Part of the reason I gave Arlo a passion for boats was so I could draw scenes like the third panel above. The main reason, however, was my own passion for boats. I make a lot of jokes about the “Where do you get your ideas?” question, but I’ve rarely attempted a serious answer. Some ideas come from passive sources such as reading or television or conversations. However, I think the best ideas come from personal experience, or at least personal interests. I do know I’m at my best when something actually is happening in my life. It’s rather depressing how often this is not the case, but that’s another issue. Take, for example, the silly little sequence that ran the week of October 26. A month or so before that, I had been whacking at a thick canebrake growing alongside my driveway, removing dead growth and fretting about snakes. Then, through a miraculous process, the “Indiana Jones” strips soon emerge. See? You can’t really explain it.