Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for July 19, 2019

You can share the moments with the fish.

Or trying to mess up the sleep patterns of others.

First rule of boating, Calvin and Mom: go with a buddy in case someone falls overboard and needs help getting back in. Some buddies you turned out to be with Dad there.

Dad, it’s summer. Kids can sleep late, Its a rule in the Big Book of Summer, Chapter 1.

People wonder how Calvin can be so selfish and ignorant sometimes. These trips are how I believe its genetic.

Maybe Dad really WANTS some time alone and knows camping is the perfect way to get it.

More vacation for dad.

Feel pity for dad. May be calvin will realize dad’s character building when he grows up :P But he never really does.

Calvin’s response is rather mild to what I’d do if someone tried to wake ME up at 5:30.

The little cretin may someday regret not spending more time with his father.

I thought Calvin would take the Canoe at dawn before dad wakes up!

I can see all the bad possible coming .

Just you, the sunrise, the fish, and about a billion midges……

Wrong approach. Dad should have said: “There are some mutant legless water-breathers that need to be captured!”

Poor Dad must enjoy these unique moments alone!!

Well, if you have any special moments out there make sure you share them with the folks at the office.

Now Calvin knows how his parents feel on Christmas morning.

Sharing is caring, as we can see… :D

Dad, you’ve got nobody to blame but yourself. You knew they didn’t like camping , but you insist.

I wish I were married to “Dad”. I’m up at 5:30am. It’s a magical time of day. My husband, however, is Calvin 50 years later.

Today’s strip brings back fond memories of growing up in New England. It’s the middle of summer and there is a mist on the lake and you can see your breath while you get ready to go out fishing, or just pack up and load everything in to get ready and canoe to your next spot…

Y’know. I think most dads (the ones who care) have those moments where they have something in mind to spring on everyone thinking “They’re gonna LOVE this!” only to feel the twinge of disappointment when it turns out that they aren’t interested at all. I had more than my fair share of those moments raising my four girls. But you persevere and when you finally, finally do find that one thing that lights up their lives, you feel very, very satisfied with life. For that one moment, dad is a hero.

Makes it all worthwhile.

Dad seems to have a real misunderstanding of things Calvin says.

Just got back from a week’s camping trip. The Great Salt Lake was buggy. Lake Powell and the Grand Canyon were fantastic. Crater Lake’s campground was closed for tree removal, so we came home early.

I’m with Calvin here. I hated camping, but my parents weren’t about to leave my home alone for a week, so I got dragged along. The only thing that I liked were the s’mores.

As they have different ideas about camping, a suggestion – Dad gets to find some buddies for fishing; they get to stay home or do whatever they want. Doesn’t have to be 2 weeks; could be just a weekend or whatever.

so far, this trip, the only problem is Calvin’s attitude.

That second panel sounds like what heaven should look like. If the bugs are still dormant.

Remember, Mom wanted to stay at a Motel with a pool, just like Calvin suggested.

I don’t understand. I would have thought that peaceful time away from Calvin would be worth diamonds. I mean, can you imagine being in a canoe with that kid and fishing gear?

Again, very much in Calvin’s camp (pun intended) on this one. I’m up at 5:30 normally; why would I want to do that on vacation?

So…everybody has to love camping because Dad loves it? Couldn’t he compromise and just take the family on a day trip to the lake, where they can have fun without roughing it? There are other ways to “build character.” Dad can do the serious camping with his buddies, if he has any.

The trick, Dad, is to pick a vacation the family wants to do, not something that only you like.

I’m with Dad 100%. He’s trying to give both himself and Calvin one of the most important bonding times of father and son: fishing together with nobody else in the whole world, and Calvin gets the priority for attention, his thoughts can meander and lead to asking questions he’s never thought about, and Dad is NOT TOO BUSY to try to answer. No interruptions except maybe for the thrill of fighting a fish. Dad can even ask questions, because Calvin isn’t busy with doing homework or playing with Suzy or making his own entertainment. With luck, he’ll have the proud moment of bringing home a stringer of fish to help feed the family. How often does a kid get to do that? That was long ago for me, but I still remember those special mornings. I think most kids, like me, would be excited to get up before everybody else and head out on an adventure, just Dad and me. I always felt so special.

Dad, enjoy the brief respite of solitude.

Calvin will be an interesting teenager, to say the least.

watterson could do so much in such a small space

Dad says there is mist on the lake? How about smoke on the water (deep purple)?

Dad doesn’t play with Calvin at home. Why should Calvin want to play with Dad on a camping trip?

Now that I’m retired, I get to sleep in until 10 AM if want to. And I do!

“Special” for whom? (Tho at 6, I would have been out and about long before Dad had to wake me). Not anymore.

You have no room to talk when Calvin wakes you up before sunrise at Christmas.

theres this strip, and then theres the december 3, 1988 stip