Descending Ashtray

I used to love the comics when I was a kid. The Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes were far and away the best ones in my local paper. Later entries into my world included Fox Trot and Non Sequitur (and much later Don Hertzfeldt), but I never forgot my first loves.

It’s been snowing in Portland the last few days, which reminded me of the Calvin strips that were among my favorites – when Calvin would make snowmen … Not the happy, cute kind, with a button nose and a corncob pipe, but the kind of snowman every 10 year old dreams of making – the kind sure to piss off your parents.

So this year, rather than carve yet another Santa for my grandmother, I decided to do something a little different. Grandma was known for her yearly calendar gift, and mine was always Calvin & Hobbes (which she is a fan of, too). So this year’s Christmas carving is a dual salute: to Bill Watterson, the strip’s creator, and Grandma Selden, its avid promoter.

Merry Christmas, everyone.