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King Charles’ coronation is probably the first most of us have seen of a British monarch. And I got to watch it with old friends and some new ones which was a lot of fun.

As I was about to start the coloring process for this cartoon, my friend Christian called me. I’ve known Christian for close to 25 years and he lives in Portsmouth, Virginia, which is in the Hampton Roads area. He had called me last Friday to do dinner as he was coming through town, but I couldn’t do it because of my CNN deadline. Everybody wants me on Fridays. If you message me on Friday, don’t. But this time it was late enough in the day and he was still about an hour away, so I was able to do it.

During dinner in a restaurant that wasn’t Mexican because we wanted to avoid the Cinco de Mayo rush, Pattie, his wife, called. He had me answer the phone and she told me to come down to Portsmouth with Christian. And she challenged me with, “You’re not going to do it.” And I thought, “Why not?” I have to go to Washington, D.C. on Monday (today) but there was nothing stopping me from spending the weekend at Xian and Pattie’s place, hopping on a train home Sunday, then hopping on another to get to D.C. on Monday, so I went.

Pattie and Christian were having a coronation viewing party. No, they’re not heavily British like I am, but they had just returned from a pretty extensive vacation in England. I’m jealous. And they had friends over for this party. There were finger sandwiches, games, and prizes. I made a lot of new friends and everyone at the party was nice people. I had a good time. We watched a tape delay of the coronation.

I still drew a cartoon that morning, and did it at a nearby Starbucks because Christian and Pattie don’t do coffee. THEY DON’T DO COFFEE!

Later that night, several of us went to a Mexican restaurant where Charlotte, the seven-year-old daughter of Brandy and Chuck, sat between me and Christian and we talked about cartoons. I had fish tacos. Charlotte had mac and cheese. Maybe we should have gone to an English tavern, but this place was in the neighborhood and they were very good.

This was a nice one-day getaway for me that didn’t cost much money at all because I got a free ride down and didn’t have to stay in a hotel. I had a great time.

Thanks, Christian and Pattie. You rock! It was bloody brilliant of you.

Music note: I listened to Alanis Morissette.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

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