Did you ever have any doubts about her capabilities and talents?

I didn’t think so! #ClapLouder

Rumor has it that Le Le, the first cub born in Singapore turns one shortly, and they have declared that he gets a whole birthday MONTH!!!! I suspect some other little pandas are going to want more than just one DAY!!!

So here are some more birthday ‘toons celebrating this weeks batch of birthdays!

Well, that’s all for now! See you on Sunday for more ‘toons from the archives!

Be the Bear!
Bob T Panda

Post script:

I thought I had more time. But I am now the last Anne standing. I just learned that my dear friend Anne Davenport passed away yesterday.

Let me explain about being the last Anne. When I moved to Whidbey Island over 30 years ago, I met the friend of a friend from Seattle. She in turn, welcomed me into a small group of her friends, which, coincidentally were all named Anne, except for the aforementioned friend of a friend, whose name was Fran. We referred to ourselves as three Annes and a Fran, but we renamed Fran Frances Anne.

We met every Wednesday for breakfast and conversation, and sometimes laundry, as I did not have my own washing machine. Annie C. tried to teach me how to fold laundry, but I was pretty hopeless. One of the best gifts I ever received was after my house fire, and Annie C. took home all my clothes and washed, ironed, and folded them for me.

Not long after that, she was diagnosed with cancer and after an awful and hard year and a half, she died. I remember that we continued to meet, two Annes and a Fran, after that for a few years, but Annie C was the glue that best held us together. We still got together from time to time, but not as regularly. Life has a habit of getting in the way.

Fran had several brushes with cancer, but being Fran, she browbeat it into submission several times. Formidable does not begin to cover it. As big as her force of will was, her heart was bigger. I spent many raucous holiday dinners at her house. I always had a place of refuge when I needed it. She could be considered the godmother of The Panda Chronicles since, in her run for Island County commissioner, she made me the official campaign cartoonist.

A political being to the end, she died late in 2019, before the pandemic and before she could see TFG’s ass soundly whipped by Joe Biden.

Annie D had health issues almost since I’ve known her, but she rarely let them get in the way of doing what she wanted to do. She was a weaver and a knitter and a quilter with a strong aesthetic. I have several of her quilts and many scarves. The pandemic robbed us of far more than just going to movies, restaurant dining, and traveling. It robbed us of the ease of visiting, of dropping in on our friends, of face to face time.

One of the activities we shared for more than 10 years was the Anne x 2 art show, which we held in my studio. Some years we had lots of sales, but mostly it was a chance to hang out together. We quit doing it a few years back, when uncertain weather and more of a proliferation of art shows made traffic slow to a trickle. We also had an art/life strategy meeting every January. We would put our goals for our creative work life down in writing and even when I didn’t look at my list during the year, having set my intention helped me stay focused.

And now she is gone. I hadn’t been over to see her since May. I thought there was more time. and so our coven of Annes is now just me.