Mike’s Mythology of Rain
The first 2 introductory (delete them if you want) panels of today’s new-run of For Better or For Worse fall into the “animals and kids are scared of thunderstorms” variety of strips, which Lynn Johnston has done before. For example, here and here and here. Those are usually pretty cute strips, but Lynn Johnston is not satisfied. Normally on the Sunday before Remembrance Day, Lynn Johnston does a Remembrance Day strip.
So, in honour of that occasion, she has decided to tie in war-making with thunderstorms. In order to do that, she ditches the frightened Farley and has young Michael Patterson tell younger Elizabeth Patterson a variety of stories about what makes thunder and lightning. At the end young Elizabeth yells at the clouds to stop fighting, and that is about as far as Lynn Johnston is going to go for this Remembrance Day. It makes me really miss Grandpa Jim, who could always be counted on to do a decent Remembrance Day strip.
Michael’s explanations have a number of sources, which I think I have figured out.
First is the explanation that it is when clouds bump their heads together, it makes electricity. This is actually correct. During a thunderstorm, water droplets and ice crystals in the clouds bump together (not heads, but close) and break up as they rub against each other in strong currents of air, which results in the static electrical charges that ultimately are released as lightning bolts.
Second is that thunder is the gods of war, going into battle with horses and chariots. Mike has to mention that he saw that on TV, so we won’t get the impression that there are some flaws in the education system. I did not find this exact mythology, however I did find that there are some gods, who are both gods of war and thunder: Indra and Perun. In many mythologies, there are separate gods for war and thunder.
Third is that rain is when angels cry. This could be from the Leann Rimes song 10 Thousand Angels Cried (which resulted in rain in the song).
Fourth is that when the sun comes out, the angels laugh. I think this one is from the poem “Rainbows, Stars, and Butterflies” by an anonymous author, which relates angels to a variety of weather phenomena and it goes like this:
Rainbows, Stars, and Butterflies
by Anonymous
Perhaps it was the sunshine or it may have been the rain,
that let me find a place I'd lost when hate I had gained.
I searched among forgotten dreams then paused with a sigh,
for on a nearby cloud I found "Rainbows happen when angels cry".
Questions I began to find, and answers for each one.
What is the source of butterflies, the rising of the sun?
"The sun comes up when angels laugh" was written on the moon,
and "Butterflies are angel smiles" was on a flower's bloom.
Snowflakes I found with a teddy bear, a friend of many years.
Snowflakes", he said with shining eyes, "are happy angel tears".
"Break an angel's heart, a star goes out" hung from a cruel thorn.
By first love's light, in letters bright "when it mends, a star is born".
As I left that place a kindly voice whispered from above,
"There is a thing you can do which exceeds these wonders grand."
Then two words sweet, in letters neat appeared in the sand........ "People Love".
So, in honour of that occasion, she has decided to tie in war-making with thunderstorms. In order to do that, she ditches the frightened Farley and has young Michael Patterson tell younger Elizabeth Patterson a variety of stories about what makes thunder and lightning. At the end young Elizabeth yells at the clouds to stop fighting, and that is about as far as Lynn Johnston is going to go for this Remembrance Day. It makes me really miss Grandpa Jim, who could always be counted on to do a decent Remembrance Day strip.
Michael’s explanations have a number of sources, which I think I have figured out.
First is the explanation that it is when clouds bump their heads together, it makes electricity. This is actually correct. During a thunderstorm, water droplets and ice crystals in the clouds bump together (not heads, but close) and break up as they rub against each other in strong currents of air, which results in the static electrical charges that ultimately are released as lightning bolts.
Second is that thunder is the gods of war, going into battle with horses and chariots. Mike has to mention that he saw that on TV, so we won’t get the impression that there are some flaws in the education system. I did not find this exact mythology, however I did find that there are some gods, who are both gods of war and thunder: Indra and Perun. In many mythologies, there are separate gods for war and thunder.
Third is that rain is when angels cry. This could be from the Leann Rimes song 10 Thousand Angels Cried (which resulted in rain in the song).
Fourth is that when the sun comes out, the angels laugh. I think this one is from the poem “Rainbows, Stars, and Butterflies” by an anonymous author, which relates angels to a variety of weather phenomena and it goes like this:
Rainbows, Stars, and Butterflies
by Anonymous
Perhaps it was the sunshine or it may have been the rain,
that let me find a place I'd lost when hate I had gained.
I searched among forgotten dreams then paused with a sigh,
for on a nearby cloud I found "Rainbows happen when angels cry".
Questions I began to find, and answers for each one.
What is the source of butterflies, the rising of the sun?
"The sun comes up when angels laugh" was written on the moon,
and "Butterflies are angel smiles" was on a flower's bloom.
Snowflakes I found with a teddy bear, a friend of many years.
Snowflakes", he said with shining eyes, "are happy angel tears".
"Break an angel's heart, a star goes out" hung from a cruel thorn.
By first love's light, in letters bright "when it mends, a star is born".
As I left that place a kindly voice whispered from above,
"There is a thing you can do which exceeds these wonders grand."
Then two words sweet, in letters neat appeared in the sand........ "People Love".
posted by howard at 10:53 PM
5 Comments:
At the end young Elizabeth yells at the clouds to stop fighting, and that is about as far as Lynn Johnston is going to go for this Remembrance Day. It makes me really miss Grandpa Jim, who could always be counted on to do a decent Remembrance Day strip.
That's for sure; given how few people take the time to look at the banner that asks us to remember, it's sort of a shame that we had such a weak entry this year.
...it's sort of a shame that we had such a weak entry this year.
Lynn has a mindset of certain stories for certain characters, which she will not cross. She may have wanted to do Remembrance Day, but to write a story of Elly and John taking the kids to a Remembrance Day parade falls outside that boundary. It would imply a John and an Elly who cared about such things and who cared if their kids cared about such things. John and Elly are so completely uninvolved in their community, they would not do those things without a Grandpa Jim there to remind them (and in later years, even with Grandpa Jim to remind them).
It would imply a John and an Elly who cared about such things and who cared if their kids cared about such things. John and Elly are so completely uninvolved in their community, they would not do those things without a Grandpa Jim there to remind them (and in later years, even with Grandpa Jim to remind them).
You're right about that; they don't even wear poppies on their jackets or anything. If I remember properly, a very reluctant Mike's first real encounter with Rememberance Day came about because his school made him attend the ceremony at the Milborough Legion Hall. John and Elly made a bunch of fine-sounding noise about things but it turned out that it was his teachers that first made him apprecaite what the Jims of the world did for him.
dreadedcandiru2,
John and Elly made a bunch of fine-sounding noise about things but it turned out that it was his teachers that first made him apprecaite what the Jims of the world did for him.
That is very odd, especially when you consider that both of Lynn's parents are former military and served in WWII. You would think, given that background, Lynn would have embraced Remembrance Day at a much earlier stage.
How did "Nizzie want cookie" turn into "Stop fighting up there?" I wonder?
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