We took a stroll yesterday through the East Village, hoping to take a break from playgrounds for a moment, and Kina made the best of the situation by doing what she loves best—making loud noises and amusing strangers. It is nice, in the middle of all this, to be happy and to make other people happy. It is also nice to eat a plate of pierogis, which we did in anticipation of our enchanted hokey pokey tour, and which gave us a very good reason to dance around vigorously in the freezing January air. That’s what it’s all about.

Kidman + Paddington Traverse Panama Canal

You must all be wondering, “How much longer can he sustain this serial fiction retelling of the contemporary holiday classic Paddington, starring Nicole Kidman?” The honest answer: I’m not sure. At this point, our heroes (former enemies) have spent more time in a submarine than anywhere near the plot of the original movie, and I frankly did not expect them to end up in the Pacific Ocean before heading home for the long-awaited dénouement. At this point, Paddington and Nicole Kidman are in the company of Paddington’s Aunt Lucy and Uncle Pastuso, the Octonauts, a friendly cat, an octopus named Coba, and three penguins with Brooklyn accents. They’ve all made their way through the Panama Canal, to which they gained access by answering a riddle (a requirement for passage, as you know, by all ships large and small), and are once again heading south. If I had to venture a guess, we have about four more chapters, but Kina is a demanding listener. I could be at this for years.

“I Got a Crank, Mommy!”

I think she meant “cramp”, but I venture her foot just fell asleep. Her foot is no longer sprinkly. I will never tire of Kina’s malapropisms, and I promise to include them here until she is old enough to know what all the right words are, which is hopefully never.

Today’s Parade is a Kina solo number. Laurea felt that this piece, entitled Moon Rock Sunday, was perfect on its own, without parental embellishment. That’s the sun in the top left; better days ahead.

If this is your first Sunday with The Daily Kina, which is true for seemingly a lot of you, welcome to it. Since I spend more time drawing the Sunday edition, I tend to write less. Soak up the visuals as a nice salve for the Sunday Scaries. It’s nice to have all of you here; see you tomorrow.

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