Page 6B
East Oregonian
PEANUTS
COFFEE BREAK
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
DEAR ABBY
BY CHARLES M . SCHULZ
Couple’s oft-chilly marriage
is subzero following election
FOR BETTER OR WORSE
BY LYNN JOHNSTON
B.C.
BY JOHNNY HART
PICKLES
BY BRIAN CRANE
Dear Abby: I’m at a loss as to
in your political beliefs has affected
how to stay in my 21-year marriage.
the way she feels about you.
In August, when our twin daughters
The next should start with asking
leave for college, my wife and I will
her whether she was ever satisfied
become empty nesters. We haven’t
in the bedroom with you. If you can
had sex in more than 2 1/2 years, and
get her to talk about it, you may be
before that it didn’t happen more than
able to find out where the two of you
a couple of times a year.
went off track and fix it. However, if
My wife says she “doesn’t feel
you can’t, then your counselor was
Jeanne
a connection with me anymore” (or Phillips correct.
perhaps never really did). We have
Dear Abby: I’ve been single for
Advice
seen a counselor a couple of times
more than a year and playing the
over the last 12 years, but the most he
field, having casual relationships, but
has to offer now is that I will have to decide never anything I was too invested in. That
whether or not to accept this as my new changed recently when I met someone I’ll
normal. We don’t fight, but we live like room- call “Eve.” We have hit it off spectacularly
mates, although we continue to share a bed.
and are very much into each other.
We are on opposite sides of the political
The only issue is she has a kid. I’m only
spectrum, and I suspect that may have some- 23, and I’m not in a position to be any kind
thing to do with her sense of disconnect. The of father figure. That being said, I would still
little affection progress we were making died love to be with Eve and occasionally help
the night of the presidential election. She out with her little one, but I don’t know how
seems content to continue like this. I hate to open up and tell her directly that I’m not
the notion of divorce, both for what it would prepared for the pressures of being a “dad” to
mean spiritually and for what it would do to a newborn. How do I express this to her? —
our families and friends. Can you help? — Is No White Knight In Knoxville
This My New Normal?
Dear No White Knight: “Daddyhood”
Dear “Is”: Couples on opposite sides of isn’t a skill that every man is born with. Some
the political spectrum can still have successful men are naturals at it; others learn gradually
marriages IF they respect their mates and can through experience. Tell Eve that you care
discuss their differences intelligently and about her, but that at 23 you are not in a posi-
calmly. However, you state that your sex life tion to be a dad to her baby. In time, things
has been the way it is for 21 years — which may change — GRADUALLY — but not
makes me wonder whether the chemistry right now. It may or may not cause the end of
was strong to begin with.
the relationship. Her first responsibility must
I do think you and your wife are overdue be to her child, and a romance right out of the
for a series of honest conversations, and the delivery room is too soon, “white knight” or
first should start with whether the difference no white knight.
DAYS GONE BY
BEETLE BAILEY
GARFIELD
BLONDIE
BY MORT WALKER
BY JIM DAVIS
100 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Dec. 25-26, 1917
Blame it on the city council as usual. This
time it is the scarcity of Christmas trees and the
high price of the few that were sold by local
dealers yesterday. At least this is the alibi of
some of the merchants who made an effort to
fill a big demand yesterday for the Yuletide
decoration, but who had little success. Their
explanation is that in previous years the council
either decorated the streets with evergreens or
staged a municipal Christmas tree. This venture
enabled the dealers to get their supply at the
same time and in quantity. But this year the
city fathers did not undertake any decorating
scheme. As a result only two or three big loads
of trees were sold yesterday. The prices ranged
from fifty cents for a small top to two dollars
for a sizable fir. The few trees that were sold
came from Meacham or Cayuse.
50 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Dec. 25-26, 1967
Weather statistics sometimes seem para-
doxical, but despite the fact that the Umatilla
River is running high and some are worrying
about floods, precipitation has been so scant
in Pendleton that the city needs .24 of an inch
before New Year’s Day to come within an inch
of the driest year here since 1890. The driest
year had a total precipitation of 7.99 and so
far this month a .43 total has brought the 1967
figure to only 6.75 inches. If Pendleton could
borrow some of Spout Springs’ precipitation
of the last few days it would be different.
During the five days ending at 8 a.m. today a
total of 5.60 inches of precipitation has been
registered there, 4.27 of it coming as rain the
last two days.
25 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Dec. 25-26, 1992
Stacee Raber, formerly of Pendleton, is
spending the holiday season in Europe with a
professional touring company of “Oklahoma.”
According to Stacee’s mother, the musical
troupe performs to full houses wherever they
appear. She sings and dances in the ensemble
and serves as understudy for the character
Ado Annie. She’s the youngest cast member.
Stacy is the daughter of Dave and Sally Raber
of Pendleton. She graduated from Pendleton
High School in 1988 and earned her bachelor’s
degree in dance this year from Cornish College
of the Arts, Seattle.
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 360th day of
2017. There are five days left
in the year. The seven-day
African-American holiday
Kwanzaa begins today. This
is Boxing Day.
Today’s Highlight in
History:
On Dec. 26, 1947, heavy
snow blanketed the North-
east, burying New York City
under 26.4 inches of snow in
16 hours; the severe weather
was blamed for some 80
deaths.
On this date:
In 1776, British forces
suffered a major defeat in the
Battle of Trenton during the
Revolutionary War.
In 1799, former President
George Washington was
eulogized by Col. Henry Lee
as “first in war, first in peace
and first in the hearts of his
countrymen.”
In 1865, James H. Nason
of Franklin, Massachusetts,
received a patent for “an
improved coffee percolator.”
In 1908, Jack Johnson
became the first Afri-
can-American boxer to
win the world heavyweight
championship as he defeated
Canadian Tommy Burns in
Sydney, Australia.
In 1917, during World
War I, President Woodrow
Wilson issued a proclamation
authorizing the government
to take over operation of the
nation’s railroads.
In 1944, during the
World War II Battle of the
Bulge, the embattled U.S.
101st Airborne Division
in
Bastogne,
Belgium,
was relieved by units of
the 4th Armored Division.
Tennessee Williams’ play
“The Glass Menagerie” was
first performed at the Civic
Theatre in Chicago.
In
1967,
“Magical
Mystery Tour,” the Beatles’
poorly received TV special,
was broadcast (in black and
white) on BBC1.
In 1972, the 33rd president
of the United States, Harry S.
Truman, died in Kansas City,
Missouri, at age 88.
In 1996, 6-year-old beauty
queen JonBenet Ramsey was
found beaten and strangled in
the basement of her family’s
home in Boulder, Colorado.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor
Donald Moffat is 87. Actor
Caroll Spinney (Big Bird on
TV’s “Sesame Street”) is 84.
Rhythm-and-blues
singer
Abdul “Duke” Fakir (The
Four Tops) is 82. Record
producer (and convicted
murderer) Phil Spector is 78.
“America’s Most Wanted”
host John Walsh is 72. Country
musician Bob Carpenter (The
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is
71. Humorist David Sedaris
is 61. Rock musician James
Kottak (The Scorpions) is 55.
Rock musician Lars Ulrich
(Metallica) is 54. Rock singer
James Mercer (The Shins;
Flake) is 47. Actor-singer
Jared Leto is 46.
Thought for Today:
“Christmas has come and
gone, and I — to speak
selfishly — am glad of it.
The season always gives me
the blues in spite of myself,
though I manage to get a
good deal of pleasure from
thinking of the multitudes of
happy kids in various parts
of the world.” — Edwin
Arlington Robinson, Amer-
ican poet (1869-1935).
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
BY DANA SIMPSON
BIG NATE
BY LINCOLN PEIRCE