10/21/15

The Prickleys were having so much fun watching Lori tossing her golden beach ball around that they missed seeing the manta ray headed for Artie until it was too late!

This was intended to be a couples shot of LaVonne & Theo and
Retha & Marvin, but the camera happened to catch LaVonne while she was underwater!

Since his shift was over anyway, maintenance man Cliff didn't bother to remove his suspenders before taking a quick dip in the pond behind the school, but as the water got deeper and deeper, he did wish he'd thought to remove his key ring with all its keys!

Eager to start a family as soon as possible, since Myrna's biological time clock only had a few ticks left, she and her new husband Skip stopped by the pool on the way to their honeymoon suite to give the fertility statue a good luck rub!

Unlike Roberta and Cara Sue, Phyllis and Cherie didn't have to worry about swim caps because they knew that their triple-strength Adorn hairspray wasn't in any way going to be affected by the steam and water droplets of the whirlpool...

So as luck would have it, Barbara grabbed the wrong swimsuit when packing for her girls' weekend to Lake Michigan and unintentionally brought the bunny-tailed one she'd worn eight years prior as a Playboy Club barmaid!

10/19/15

During this spirited bit of Easter "fun," Raffles knew only one thing: In 30 seconds he was either going to be biting into a delicious egg or ripping Teddy's inflatable bunny into 23 pieces!

Originally, Mary thought she might allow E.T. to stay on Earth with Elliott, Gertie and her, but when she discovered that he'd fallen in with the wrong sort of kids, she reconsidered it and decided to ship him back into space!

Evie was still grateful to Lassie for having pulled her from a tidal pool several weeks before, but couldn't help wishing that the heroic pooch hadn't chewed off her entire ponytail in the process since a big dance was coming up and her locks hadn't fully recovered yet!

The gang took a vote and decided that it should be Ralph who went outside to feed Bowser. They even let him believe that the spare rib in his hand was to be dinner when they all knew it was actually going to be Ralph himself!

Knowing it could get a little drafty in the den, Anne Marie offered to fetch Louie a throw, but in the end he didn't need one since Perky and Lulu decided to offer their services!

At last the rec room remodel was complete and Natalie was so thrilled at the amazing deal she and R.J. got on paneling. Their only regret was that there wasn't enough leftover for them to re-do the downstairs bathroom with it as well...

10/16/15

Estelle didn't mind handing out the occasional sandwich or cup of coffee to a local drifter, but she did draw the line when ones like Lester would come on in and make themselves at home without even knocking first!

Now safely ensconced in Room 360, Martha Jo finally had time to reflect on just how bad a decision it had been to try to recreate her old fire-baton routine at the Bendl-Bachman 20th Class Reunion.

Ernie Winters loved stopping over with his parents on vacation at The Wayside Motel between Shelbyville and Miami, not only because it featured a refreshing pool, but also because the Denny's next door was "always open!"

Long after having partaken in The Grand National, Velvet Brown still enjoyed riding the occasional horse, even ones at local carnivals and festivals though her father was beginning to tire of her forever asking if she could "borrow" a quarter!

Finally Donald and Caynelle Kniewatter were able to sell their hardware store and move to Florida where they operated a highly-successful short-term rental apartment complex complete with shuttle service to and from the airport.

Evan whispered to Patty exactly what he intended to do with her as soon as he finished his Boone's Farm cognac, but she seemed less than enthusiastic about the idea...

10/14/15

Time and again, Buddy Sanzhedder was warned to avoid certain beaches during his tour of The Middle East, but he just wouldn't listen...

Denis was so hyped up about the Poison concert that when he went to cut the arms out of his shirt to make a "muscle slut" tee, he almost hacked off the letter "P!" But he still thought people could tell what it said.

Irv always had a hidden wild streak, so he gave in to it one time by cashing in his Christmas Club account and planning a trip to Montana, where he heard that some ladies wore their skirts above the calf! To prepare himself fully, he read up on the place before departing.

Feeling a little feverish while down at the river house in Butte, California, Janice Kass decided to take her temperature, but was horrified to find that she'd accidentally reached for Jack's rectal thermometer!

The Sadie Hawkins dance down at Tri-State Yacht Club was just around the corner and, as usual, Jenny had a hard time making up her mind, though she had finally narrowed her selection down to either Gib or Jason.

Barney Everett was plum sick of putting his chair out for the annual Founder's Day Parade and then having people stand in front of it, so this year he pulled his truck up to a nearby parking spot and made sure he got to see everything all right!

10/12/15

Even though this sinkhole at Deerfield Beach was only 7 feet deep, it did claim its share of unwitting victims. At least they got a good tan until they could be rescued...

It was never easy to get a particularly decent picture of The Milsaps because each one was as myopic as hell, yet not one of them would wear his or her glasses!

During a brief modern art boom in the mid-1980s, Candace made a killing with this original piece she called "Dropcloth." It was her only work at that time, but she did produce one more (under-selling) masterpiece in 1992 when she repainted the foyer of her home.

Based upon this daring and delightful publicity photo, top dollar was paid to The Slant Sisters for their tap & four-part harmony act. Trouble is, once they got to the job, the arrangers were horrified to discover that this was actually the way they stood at all times and they often wandered around in circles, bumping into each other during their choreography!

In the midst of the 1970s oil crisis and resultant inflation, Shanae found a great way to make ends meet in order to pay the rent. She slid open the dining room window and gave fortunes through the curtains, using a light-up crystal ball from Spencer's Gifts that someone had given her for a birthday.

Everyone found Raymond's headgear fetching and beyond impressive, but he did have issues getting through some of the narrower doorways and anyone taller than he had to be on the alert if they were near him and he turned his head suddenly.

10/09/15

What a thrill for Elaine to meet up with her long-lost twin brother Elgin, after almost fifty years of being raised apart, and discover that they had such common preferences in clothing and hairstyling!

No one could deny that Stanley Tippleman had the best basement rec room and gave the liveliest parties, but when pressed for an opinion, most of the guys had to agree that he needed to invite better dames to the joint if he really wanted his place to swing...

Johann was thrilled when Heidi asked if he'd like to go hiking with her for the afternoon, but got the shock of his life when she headed up one of the hills before him and the wind blew her dirndl up over her head!

Esther was so worried when she got both a dog and a cat that the two wouldn't get along, but much to her surprise she often found Blake and Krystle sprawled out in front of the fireplace enjoying a romantic evening together!

Ted had a whole evening of festivities planed, but discovered to his immense dismay that after too much beer on tap, the only ones left awake to take part in any of it were Dede and her drippy cousin Sue who both drank only Pepsi all night!

Walter had told his son Leroy that he was far too old to sit on his lap, especially at such a solemn event as Uncle Marv's funeral, but Leroy persisted because he was feeling blue and wanted his daddy...

10/7/15

Tigger was always happy to meet new people, but after being introduced to Misty and her camel toe, it made him recall some of the humped beasts he'd known back in Asia before leaving to come and live at Pooh Corner...

Last minute panic set in when Sharon was about to leave for the sanctuary and realized that she hadn't shaved her legs for four days! So bridesmaid Tawny was pressed into service with a Lady Remington!

Whenever the old cigarette machine spit out the wrong brand or failed to give change, Arch turned into a real beast over it, but the other patrons at The Bent Knife Cafe were so used to him and his tantrums by now that they were hardly phased...

Bradley was a patient little tyke, but Angelica could never contain her excitement during special occasions and was salivating at the idea of a store-bought birthday cake, if only momma would light the candles!

As much as Wanda Sue enjoyed being married to Hank, the lonely nights of an ambulance driver's wife were too often spent fretfully listening to the police scanner for any recent emergencies.

And so this marked the last weekend that Barry retained custody of little Ryan, who unsuccessfully attempted a daring dive into the shallow end of the pool while his father entertained Caren and Teri, a couple of neighborhood girls...

10/5/15

Karolyn woke up with the strange sensation that she was being watched and, sure enough, there was Norvin buried in the sand with just a periscope sticking out with which to spy on her, but she didn't mind. Half the reason she came to the beach was to be noticed!

Ralph was so proud of his first "save" as a lifeguard at Churning Falls Community Pool that he immediately hopped up on the ledge for a photo, leaving little Tommy Gulperson to cough out any residual water off to the side!

All during this family snapshot, Revaline was terrified that all her hair wouldn't make it into frame, never dreaming that with Grandma Claxon behind the shutter, all her children wouldn't even make it into frame! (Not pictured: Tracey Claxon.)

Few people know that even such stalwart citizens as Mickey and Minnie Mouse went through an awkward rebellious phase, with Mickey growing a mustache and diving into the hard rock music scene and Minnie pinning her ears down underneath a sizable rough girl 'do...

Hands down this was the most enjoyable neighborhood cocktail party that Harry had ever been to, and it stayed that way right up to the point where his wife Myra came in and found him with Marlene and Brenda!

In most ways, Pogo was the easiest and most low-maintenance of pets, but in this one instance, in which he insisted that his owners "don't look" while he did his business, he could be a bit trying...

10/2/15

Nick and Suzanne didn't believe in driving while intoxicated, so they often assigned Scout to be their designated driver. He did remarkably well although his inability to differentiate colors did sometimes cause an issue at stoplights!

Mary Lou reached her boiling point after one too many snide comments from Jenny about the decor in Mary Lou's apartment, so she instructed Sateen to teach her catty "friend" a lesson!

Eduardo was infuriated that his pals Skip, Angie and Buzz were in charge of bringing the beer to the party, but only brought enough for themselves!

The Griffiths were so relieved to have their granddaughter Trish back safe and sound and rather grateful to Officer Andrews for retrieving her from inside the back of the Ms. Pac Man arcade game into which she'd crawled to try to get quarters for laundry night...

A browse through old family scrapbooks revealed Loretta's unfortunate penchant for wearing everything off-the-shoulder (way off-the-shoulder) began in the crib and had progressed from there.

And so an otherwise serene family reunion was wrecked when Harlan, Karen and their son Davey showed up on their cycles and disrupted brother Carl's invocation while also circling the food table and causing Aunt Virginia's seven-layer cake to slide apart.