August 12th, 2013

The Cottage

by Brian Walker, Greg Walker and Chance Browne

My wife’s father’s family is from Brunswick, Maine and they own an antique cottage just outside of town on a narrow peninsula called Mere Point.  We go there every summer to enjoy the beautiful sunsets over Maquoit Bay, eat lobster and swim in the invigorating salt water.  The house has an old front porch, an outdoor shower, cast-off furniture, lumpy beds and an unmistakable odor of mothballs.  We love it.

The Mere Point cottage, Brunswick, Maine.

In 2010, I wrote a week of strips in which the Flagston family took a vacation to a similar spot.  I sent a photo of the Maine cottage to Chance Browne to use for reference. The drawing he did in the Sunday page that opened the story is an accurate depiction.

Hi and Lois Sunday page, August 15, 2010.

Longtime readers of Hi and Lois know that Beetle Bailey and Lois Flagston are brother and sister.  Chance decided to use the Bailey family name for the location of the cottage in the drop panel.

For many years, when are our children were younger, the only television at the cottage was an old black-and-white model with rabbit ears.  We would hide it in a closet as soon as we arrived and the kids never knew the difference.  It was a pleasure to get a break from the noise of the boob tube.

A few years ago, the cottage was equipped with wireless internet access and now everyone in the family can use their laptops and smart phones.  I miss the days when these distractions were absent.  Fortunately, we still find time to turn off the technology and read books, play games and have interesting conversations.

A color print of this cartoon now hangs in the cottage as a reminder of the old days.

­– Brian Walker