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Fatchance to Dream



Well, August and Labor Day are past. I hope you had an enjoyable weekend. I don’t think Labor Day gets enough respect as a holiday. I like the more simple holidays, and they don’t come much simpler than Labor Day. No fireworks. No gifts. NO decorations. Just go out and have a good time as you see fit. You work hard. You deserve it. Of course, Labor Day has its history and its purpose, but we don’t get all caught up in like, say, the Fourth of July. Probably we should give more attention to the “true meaning” of Labor Day, but we don’t. Labor Day is what you make of it, and that’s not bad.

Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"

Jimmy Johnson

27 responses to “Fatchance to Dream”

  2. You’re right about the lack of tradition about the holiday. But it does give a nice bookend to the summer. It is better to have a holiday in the summer rather than having one in February.

    My mother actually went into labor on Labor Day 1949 for my older brother. That was a Labor Day to remember.

    Now it is celebrated as school time and the start of Football.

    Reply

  3. TruckerRon,

    As an amateur astronomer, I wonder what your thoughts are about today’s strip over on GoComics? If the axis precession WAS sufficient for Arlo’s mythical home to have late summer (or late spring) we’d get one cycle per Earth year– no more North Star! That would also put the Southern hemisphere in late winter/late fall for the entire year. Pretty sure there would be unintended consequences with that… Not sure what it would do to orbital mechanics, but I bet there would be interesting tides. Guessing that much movement would also do fun things with plate tectonics and vulcanism. (Google tells me that should be volcanism– wonder when that changed?) My guess is the weather patterns would stabilize, and we’d end up with bands, like Jupiter. Hopefully, no Great White Spot for a permanent hurricane!

    Learned something about the Milankovitch Cycle when I looked up something related to axial precession. It was interesting reading, but highlighted (to me) just how complex climate interactions may be and how difficult it will be to fully understand long-term climate (if ever).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles

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  4. David, thanks for that link to the Milankovitch Cycle article. That’s yet another factor to consider in pondering climate change, along with those attributed to humankind, and those we have no control over (sunspots and cosmic rays). Throw in the sun’s other longer-term cycles and patterns that affect its luminosity and other variations in its effect on our little world… Well, I’d say we’re just beginning to understand what really drives our planet’s weather and climate.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cycle#Patterns

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  8. Hi Jimmy. Don’t care if this is posted, but would appreciate an update on your Kickstarter campaign. Think we’re heading into the third year. I remain confident that the campaign will end honorably. Still love your comics.
    -Rick Drury
    Wausau WI
    715.212.5728

    Reply

  10. In the previous thread, Mark Twain and the German language were topics for a bit.

    As I type this, a rebroadcast of NPR’s “Mark Twain” from 01.15.02 is on television.

    Thoroughly enjoyable.

    Reply

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