Summers Ain’t What They Used To Be

September 2, 2023

My funny black and white comic of Bryan discovering that big macs aren't as big as they used to be. Drawn by artist Bryan Skinnell.

Well ladies and gents, it’s Saturday once again. Amazing, I know because this week… gosh this whole summer… came and left me before I could even sit down and think what to do!! Now who am I supposed to complain to about that?!! I’m kinda cheesed if you can’t already tell. Summers used to be a sacred time to me as a youngin. Now that I’m a grown man who can truly appreciate the dog days of the year, summers nowadays ain’t worth a diddly-doo compared to the summers I used enjoy as a kid. Back then summers went on forever and a week or two extra. And now?! Now a fella can’t hardly even get their beach jammies on and the vacation planned before Halloween comes a knockin’. And it’s not just the summers that are shrinking either. There’s a big stink in the news these days about how the cost-cutters have mangled the iconic Big Mac to the point that it’s only a pittence of its former glory. Geez, you’d almost be lying to even call it a mini-mac anymore. I stopped at McDonalds the other day and ordered myself a large (LARGE!) milkshake only to get what would’ve been a medium shake just a few years ago. Sure glad I didn’t order the small milkshake. I’d have felt silly drinking a milkshake out of a sippy cup.

So I’m forced to ask, is everything shrinking anymore?????!! Am I the unwitting victim of economics and capitalism gone amuck? I shudder to think what’s next. Probably not me for I’m one of the few things in this universe that seems impermeable to shrinking. Go figure.

Why hello there! My name is Bryan Skinnell and I am a middle-aged (50-ish) artist and neighborhood kook who is living the artistic and creative life out in the boonies of Bedford, Virginia. Bedford is one of the largest counties in the commonwealth of Virginia and, for the most part, it’s still a mostly rural one that bridges the gap between Roanoke and Lynchburg. You could say, in more ways than one, that Bedford is the heart of Virginia. I can’t argue with that although I usually think of Bedford more as Virginia’s belly button myself.

I grew up right here in Bedford and have lived and toiled most of my life on our infamous red clay. The sort of clay that makes the stickiest mud known to man after a rain and which clings like super glue from God to anything and everything it touches. If you are so foolish as to get it on yourself you’ll wind up tracking and leaving a trail of red goop everywhere you go for days afterwards to the delight of your family and friends. But I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else and Lord knows I tried as I’ve wandered from one end of the country to the other. But Bedford has my heart and that’s where I’ve chosen to live my life today. In my free time when I’m not stuck in my studio making art I do love being outside gardening or hiking or just pestering the neighbors.

Every day I try to write something that’s original, entertaining, and half-way thoughtful here on my blog while sharing my happy-go-lucky attitude and zest for life. Quite often I don’t have the foggiest notion of what I’ll end up saying in a post. But, whatever I end up writing about, I do hope you enjoy it!

I do keep a mailing list for interested readers and fans. If you would like to get in on the action and follow my musings and rabble-babble, that can be easily arranged. Just give me an email address that you would like for me to send my blog posts to and I’ll see that you get it.

Thanks for stopping by!
Bryan Skinnell