Ballard Street

Picture this (or click this link): An elderly man dressed in cowboy gear complete with chaps, a 10-gallon hat, and twin six-guns stands astride the sidewalk, one foot on each of two dogs who also wear six-guns and cowboy hats. An older woman holding a bag of groceries stands looking at the scene. The caption: “ ‘Well, if it isn’t Gary Chambers and that cowboy gang of his,’ mutters Arlene.”

Jerry Van Amerongen’s one panel comic, Ballard Street, is, for the most part, about people with way too much spare time. Alex has built a catapult to more efficiently hurl shoes at the neighbors. Martha has attached a propeller to a power drill and now has her own personal helicopter. There’s Francis who “maintains his life force by periodically choosing a different favorite chair.” And Todd has developed expertise in walking backwards.

Did I mention that all of the characters are older and most are retired? They’re cheerful, friendly, a bit addled, and none seems to have anything better to do than to create meaningless projects that amuse or annoy the neighbors.

I read Ballard Street every day for a good laugh and to remind myself that I need to envision meaningful projects and important work that will last me for years lest I too join Gordon and his group of men sitting in the basement with paper towels and water “looking into the question of absorbency.”