Page 8A
East Oregonian
PEANUTS
COFFEE BREAK
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
DEAR ABBY
BY CHARLES M . SCHULZ
Widower finds companionship,
but isn’t ready for romance
FOR BETTER OR WORSE
BY LYNN JOHNSTON
B.C.
BY JOHNNY HART
PICKLES
BY BRIAN CRANE
Dear Abby: My wife died of
It might also be a good idea for you
cancer four years ago. She was my best
to consult a grief therapist. Because if
friend, and the pain of losing her was
you do, it may make it easier for you
more than I could cope with. I was in
to move forward with your life.
a fog for about two years, just going
Dear Abby: Our friend’s adult
through the motions. Eventually the
children invited us to a birthday party
fear of spending the next 20 to 30 years
they were throwing for their parent
alone drove me to try internet dating. I
at a restaurant. As we were ordering,
met some nice women and some very
the server asked if the checks would
Jeanne
strange ones, but nothing came of it.
Phillips be separate or couples. (This was our
Then a year ago, an old friend
first clue that we were expected to
Advice
introduced me to “Elaine.” We hit it
pay for our dinner.) For us, it was no
off immediately. We share the same
problem, but an elderly couple had a
interests and offbeat sense of humor, and I long discussion about how they would pay.
have grown fond of her. She’s intelligent,
When inviting guests to a party, is it proper
kind and easy on the eyes. Our grown kids get to expect them to pay for their dinner? And if
along very well.
so, how should it be phrased in the invitation?
Our mutual friend told me that Elaine said If no mention is made, how would one inquire
she loves me and would be thrilled if I proposed as to how the bill is handled?
— I guess to encourage me to the next level. My
This has never come up before. Hosts
problem is, I’m still in love with my late wife.
(including us) have always picked up the tab.
If Elaine one day tells me she loves me, — Caught Off Guard In Ohio
how do I respond without hurting her feelings
Dear Caught Off Guard: How embar-
or making her withdraw? I can see myself rassing for that older couple, not to mention
loving her in the future, but I am still silently your friend.
mourning my wife. I don’t want to chase
Unless it is discussed or agreed upon before-
Elaine away, so please tell me what to do. — hand, a host is expected to pick up the check.
New York Widower
(That’s what “host” means.) If guests will be
Dear Widower: You and Elaine appear to expected to pay for their own drinks (or meals),
have a communication problem. You are both then the occasion is a “no host” gathering. That
adults. If she has fallen in love with you, you the guests were expected to pay for their own
shouldn’t have to hear it from a mutual friend. meal should not have been announced at the
You owe it to her to have a frank talk with last minute; it should have been mentioned
her because she needs to know that you don’t when the invitation was issued.
intend to remarry until you are over the loss of
As to how to ask who will be paying when
your late wife. She may decide to stick it out you are invited out, please know that asking
and wait or, as you say, decide to move on. But that question isn’t rude — particularly in light
at least she’ll know what she’s dealing with.
of what you experienced.
DAYS GONE BY
BEETLE BAILEY
GARFIELD
BLONDIE
BY MORT WALKER
BY JIM DAVIS
100 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
June 26-27, 1917
Fireworks such as have never been seen
in eastern Oregon will mark the celebration
of the Fourth of July in Pendleton next week.
In addition to a realistic reproduction of the
Battle of San Juan, there will be set pieces,
aerial bombs, electric geysers, burning shells
and a grand illumination. G.J Prescott of Port-
land, to whom was given the contract for the
fireworks, arrived this morning and completed
arrangements with the general committee. The
Battle of San Juan will be truly spectacular.
Mr. Prescott is shipping his equipment here
for building a hill 150 feet long. On this hill
will be built a Spanish blockhouse and the
battle will show soldiers charging up the hill
in the face of the fire from the blockhouse. It
will end with the tearing down of the Spanish
flag and the raising of old Glory.
50 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
June 26-27, 1967
Weston finds itself faced with a water
shortage prompted by a sharp decline in
the water level of the town’s well. The city
council held an emergency meeting Friday
and voted to put the community on tight
water restrictions to try to help the situation.
The restrictions are aimed at outside lawn
and irrigation uses. All citizens who live
on the north side of Main Street can water
their lawns and irrigate on even numbered
dates beginning today. Those living on the
south side of Main Street can water on odd
numbered dates beginning Tuesday. There
will be no irrigating or watering lawns at
night.
25 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
June 26-27, 1992
It took Ivan Nicely four weeks to create
a work of art that will stand for years in
Pendleton as a reminder of the rugged fron-
tier faced by Oregon Trail emigrants. Nicely
placed his finishing touches today on the
“Watchers on the Hill” mural he painted on
Albertson’s north wall, directly across Court
Avenue from the Round-Up Grounds. Nicely
knew at first glance he wanted the chance to
add artwork to Albertson’s wall. The location
combines the best of all qualities — shade,
location and surface. Nicely, who lives near
Weston, has been an artist and illustrator for
30 years.
BY DEAN YOUNG AND STAN DRAKE
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
DILBERT
THE WIZARD OF ID
LUANN
ZITS
BY SCOTT ADAMS
BY BRANT PARKER AND JOHNNY HART
BY GREG EVANS
BY JERRY SCOTT AND JIM BORGMAN
Today is the 178th day of
2017. There are 187 days left
in the year.
Today’s Highlight in
History:
On June 27, 1957,
Hurricane Audrey slammed
into coastal Louisiana and
Texas as a Category 4 storm;
the official death toll from
the storm was placed at 390,
although a variety of state,
federal and local sources
have estimated the number
of fatalities at between 400
and 600.
On this date:
In 1844, Mormon leader
Joseph Smith and his brother,
Hyrum, were killed by a mob
in Carthage, Illinois.
In 1864, Confederate
forces repelled a frontal
assault by Union troops in the
Civil War Battle of Kennesaw
Mountain in Georgia.
In 1905, the Industrial
Workers of the World was
founded in Chicago.
In 1922, the first Newberry
Medal, recognizing excel-
lence in children’s literature,
was awarded to “The Story
of Mankind” by Hendrik
Willem van Loon.
In 1944, during World War
II, American forces liberated
the French port of Cherbourg
from the Germans.
In 1974, President Richard
Nixon opened an official visit
to the Soviet Union.
In 1977, the U.S.
Supreme Court struck down
state laws and bar association
rules that prohibited lawyers
from advertising their fees
for routine services.
In 1986, the International
Court of Justice at The
Hague ruled the United
States had broken interna-
tional law and violated the
sovereignty of Nicaragua by
aiding the contras. (The U.S.
had already said it would not
consider itself bound by the
World Court decision.)
In
1990,
NASA
announced that a flaw in
the orbiting Hubble Space
Telescope was preventing the
instrument from achieving
optimum focus. (The problem
was traced to a mirror that
had not been ground to exact
specifications;
corrective
optics were later installed to
fix the problem.)
In 1991, Supreme Court
Justice Thurgood Marshall,
the first black jurist to sit on
the nation’s highest court,
announced his retirement. (His
departure led to the conten-
tious nomination of Clarence
Thomas to succeed him.)
Today’s
Birthdays:
Business executive Ross
Perot is 87. Former Interior
Secretary Bruce Babbitt is 79.
Singer-musician Bruce John-
ston (The Beach Boys) is 75.
Fashion designer Vera Wang
is 68. Country singer Lorrie
Morgan is 58. Writer-produc-
er-director J.J. Abrams is 51.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., is
49. TV personality Jo Frost
is 47. Actor Tobey Maguire
is 42. (Punch Brothers) is
35. Reality TV star Khloe
Kardashian is 33.
Thought for Today: “A
man, after he has brushed
off the dust and chips of his
life, will have left only the
hard, clean question: Was it
good or was it evil? Have I
done well — or ill?” — John
Steinbeck, American author
(1902-1968).
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
BY DANA SIMPSON
BIG NATE
BY LINCOLN PEIRCE