This cartoon is not well-drawn, but it contains layers of jokes between my Dad and me over many years. I don’t like the drawing, but it makes me smile to remember the jokes. It reminds me of ex-cartoonist Corinne Pearlman saying that she missed ephemera cartoons of the family that she had thrown away over the years.

Joke 1: my Dad reminded me for years when leaving the house to ‘Remember your waterproof!’ I was a teenager at the time and didn’t bother to elucidate that I did not own one. Eventually he bought me one for my 49th birthday. He bought me his favourite brand ‘Rohan’ at vast expense even in the sale.

Joke 2: my Dad loves Rohan – friends and family like to mock this affection (he does ramble on about it). On this day, he has told me in detail about his Rohan attire and his breathable wicker vest and pants. Bemusedly I asked if he was wearing 90% Rohan that day – he proudly said 70%

Joke 3: on this day, we had hiked 10 miles in pouring rain to Warwick Books and I had made the mistake of putting my required face mask in a non-waterproof pocket (non-Rohan!) so it got soaked. This meant that it was difficult to talk to Mog and Pauline (the book keepers) and it hurt to breathe. I enjoyed my Dad’s resulting compassion.