For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for June 25, 2022

What is the average summer temperature of Ontario province (or its city Toronto near which FBorRW fictionally takes place)?

Ask Elizabeth to hose you down.

Oh, Mike. You know nothing about being hot. It is cool up in Canada. I dare you to fly down here to Phoenix and stand in our 115 degrees sun.

Mike you are a wimp

I’m a 77 y/o woman in sunny SoCal, and yesterday I did my weekly mowing of my front and back lawns. It was 75 deg. in the shade … which means it was 85-90 out in the sun where I was mowing. I did take a break between the front and back yards, but at least I got further than mowing a single serpentine before stopping. Then, after showering and having a quick lunch, I joined two friends and we spent a couple of hours playing Baroque trios. Mike had better toughen up if he wants to make it to my age!

Mike wear something more than short when mowing the lawn. Those mowers have been known to spit out all sorts of junk back at the mowing person with a fair amount of force. Also those power mowers eat their share of toes every summer too. That’s one of the reasons that I wear ankle boots when mowing. Tennis-shoes just won’t cut it, safety wise. Some ear protection would be nice too. Those mowers can be quite loud you know.

Mike is supposed to be cutting a lawn, not plowing a field!!

There’s no need for curved furrows!!

I generally mow the lawns in the evenings or mornings. Dressed like Michael usually means the gnats are active and biting. So, I take advantage of any time it’s below 25. I also sunbathe around that temperature, for my deck can get to 40 easily. Canada tends to be cooler in summer, although I recall that when Terry Fox was marathoning in 1980, it sometimes reached into the mid-30’s in the middle of the day.

Used to use a push power mower to do our one-acre lot. But age has caught up, and we use a riding mower now.

To give Michael some credit, and if my old memory serves, we already had power drive assist mowers back in 1993. However that one is a push mower since I can’t see any power drive control lever on the handlebar. And when you are cutting thick grass some 4 or 5 inches tall, that requires some muscle to push. Best to cut shorter grass more often.

Drama queen.

I have lived both in humid heat (Alabama) and dry heat (Arizona). They are both miserable. But with our frequent summer temperatures of 110+ through August, Arizona is by far the worst. I like a t-shirt that’s popular around here that says “But it’s a dry heat.” It shows a skeleton leaning against a cactus. Also there’s the joke about it being a dry heat. So is an oven.

Yep.

Death Valley is the hottest place I’ve ever been. With towns like Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek, not to mention unheated outdoor pools that are as warm as bathtubs

The kid is just lazy!

I notice that Mike cuts grass like most of the kids around here, the helter-skelter technique. It has the advantage of not leaving cut lines on the lawn. But, it takes twice as long which is great is you’re getting paid by the hour, but not for payment by job.

He’s just not cuttin’ it. He didn’t make the cut.

So close, but so far…

Michael Patterson: the most useless human being in the comic strips. Well, outside of Wilbur Weston anyway.

Try giving it a push, John! You might find you like the mindless, pointless labor. Or are you too lazy, so you keep dumping the job on Mike!?

COWARD!!! It’s supposed to be NINETY today and THIS guy has to finish mowing our backyard! (I got a burst of energy last night and did the front and most of the back.)

At least he had a power mower. We had a crappy push mower.

They have a big lawn. Both parents work. Why don’t they have a riding lawn mower? Teen power only goes so far as we see here. And why is Liz never shown mowing? I certainly did my share of mowing.

Panel 4: John dragging Mike by the hair back to the mower.

Again I think Lynn was spying on my family!! This was my younger brother (also named Mike) He would mow in strips (my dad would get SO PO’d

I wonder if elly said no shoes no shirt no service

It’s gonna be hot and wet. That’s nice if you’re with a lady, but it ain’t no good if you’re in Ontario.

Has Michael been hanging out with Jeremy from Zits and Dustin from Dustin?

Compare that to Texas. I can’t even stand to mow when the Sun is up but many of my neighbors do.

All that fuss over a little path of mown lawn.

That is a spoilt lazy brat, alright. Needs some serious lessons on hardworking.

I HOPE Mike has shoes on.You do NOT mow the lawn barefoot,unless you’re looking for multiple stitches.