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Editorial cartoon

The Strand Herd

A daily editorial cartoon about life in Barrhaven, the traffic on Strandherd, the council that runs us, the small wins worth a smile. It takes aim at situations, not people. A new one every day. We are the herd.

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July 2026

A market vendor stands behind a cloth-covered folding table of jars and baked goods under an open canopy on a grassy lawn, shading her eyes in the summer heat.
wry
A parent and two children with gym bags stand on the front steps of a suburban recreation centre, facing its shut glass doors.
wry
A loose ink cartoon of a plain hall with four people seated in a short row of folding chairs while one lone figure walks in late through an open door across the room.
wry-ironic
A loose ink cartoon of one person alone on a bench under a suburban transit shelter, an empty road, and a city bus small in the distance.
wry-ironic
A loose black-ink cartoon of an empty field of tall grass at the edge of a Barrhaven subdivision, a row of new house rooftops along the far treeline and a single small excavator parked among them.
wry-ironic
A loose black-ink cartoon of two neighbours sitting in lawn chairs at the end of a suburban driveway in front of a closed garage door, on a quiet street of identical Barrhaven houses.
wry-affectionate
Loose line cartoon: four relaxed people of different ages read in comfortable armchairs inside a cool, bright library with tall sunny windows and a bookshelf, a calm refuge from the heat outside.
wry-affectionate
A loose ink cartoon of a lone commuter waiting alone on a bus shelter bench beside a dug-up stretch of road with an orange construction barrel.
wry
A cartoon of a long line of cars stopped on a country road, with a row of identical new rooftops behind them.
wry
A cartoon family sprawled in the shade of a single backyard tree in blazing sun while a sprinkler waters the empty grass and the dog lies flat.
wry
A packed commuter parking lot of cartoon cars, with a small blank yellow slip tucked on the windshield of the car in front.
wry
Overhead cartoon view of a new suburban roundabout with a grass island, a single small car driving around the circle.
wry
A lone figure walks away down a long curving suburban sidewalk lined with identical houses.
wry
A wilted parent slumps in a shaded lawn chair squinting at a phone while a child cannonballs into a small backyard pool under a blazing sun.
ironic
A loose ink cartoon of young soccer players in jerseys sitting on the grass eating freezies during a camp break while a coach in a tracksuit stands among them eating one too, a soccer ball on the grass and a goal net behind.
wry-affectionate
A loose ink cartoon of a small car stopped at the mouth of a closed suburban road blocked by a row of striped traffic barrels, a parked excavator digging beside torn-up pavement, flat open farm fields and sky beyond.
ironic
Cartoon: a volunteer in an apron holds up a hot dog at a smoking barbecue while a line of children waits with empty paper plates.
wry-affectionate
A cartoon of a man in a blazer walking up a suburban driveway in blazing sun while a homeowner in shorts waters the lawn and ignores him, two near-identical houses behind.
wry
A large two-handled silver trophy on a dessert-shop counter, heaped with scoops of ice cream, while an aproned server stands beside it holding an ice-cream scoop and looking up at it.
affectionate
A loose ink cartoon of two people with shopping bags waiting at a bare curb on a wide, empty suburban intersection, one pointing across the road at an equally empty grassy corner.
wry
A loose ink cartoon of an unfinished suburban roundabout torn up for construction, ringed with barrels and barricades and an idle excavator, with a single child riding a bicycle in a wide circle around the empty pavement.
wry-affectionate
A road roller lays fresh asphalt on the empty Transitway while a city bus waits behind it and two workers stand by orange barrels.
ironic
A long line of cars sits bumper to bumper waiting to get into a big-box store parking lot crammed full of parked cars. Caption: Saturday at the Barrhaven Costco — where the parking lot is the busiest road in Barrhaven.
wry
A loose ink-and-wash cartoon of an empty wet suburban park field after rain, a small maple-leaf flag stuck upright in the grass, a couple of folded lawn chairs and a tarp-covered crate off to one side, and two Canada geese standing on the grass under a grey overcast sky.
poignant-hopeful
A loose ink cartoon of a suburban commuter train stopped alongside a long line of parked cars filling a park-and-ride lot at dawn, one lone commuter in a jacket walking toward the platform holding a travel mug, long morning shadows.
wry
A loose ink cartoon of a single small car driving alone on a wide open divided highway with guardrails, sweeping toward a flat distant horizon under a big open sky, flat farm fields on either side.
wry-ironic
Loose line cartoon: a long line of cars bunched bumper to bumper backing up along a curving multi-lane highway as it bends toward an exit, a couple of cars on the open lanes, flat open fields beside the road.
wry-ironic
A loose ink cartoon of a quiet suburban residential street with a new sidewalk running along it, a faint worn dirt footpath showing through the grass strip beside it, one person walking on the fresh sidewalk, tidy two-storey houses behind.
wry-affectionate
A loose ink cartoon of a bright airy public library reading room with tall sunny windows and plain bookshelves in the background, six people lounging comfortably in armchairs and at a long table on a hot day, one of them fanning their brow.
wry
A loose ink cartoon of the bright interior of a small South Asian grocery shop: mounds of colourful spices and produce in open bins, burlap sacks of grains and a woven basket in front, two shoppers browsing the aisle with hand baskets.
affectionate
June 2026 · 17 cartoons
A loose ink cartoon of an empty sunny suburban park field at midday, with a tidy row of folding lawn chairs and a cooler already arranged on the grass to claim a spot, nobody around yet, leafy trees at the far edges.
affectionate-wry
A loose ink cartoon of a city transit bus stopped on a leafy Barrhaven street with a few teenagers climbing aboard.
wry-affectionate
A small cheerful crowd of shoppers clustered together around a warehouse-store snack counter, holding little paper trays. Caption: At the Barrhaven Costco, the new mini-donut machine has done what no transit plan could — brought the whole suburb together.
affectionate
Loose line cartoon: a few bright fireworks bursts in the night sky over a grassy suburban park field, two or three families on folding lawn chairs and blankets, one small child sprawled asleep on a blanket.
wry-affectionate
Loose line cartoon: a few relaxed teenagers slouched across the seats of a nearly empty city bus in bright summer daylight.
wry-affectionate
Loose line cartoon: a vendor in an apron and cap arranges baskets of fresh vegetables on a small table at an outdoor farmers market, an empty folding table beside them, a shopper with a cloth bag facing him.
affectionate
Loose line cartoon: the quiet, empty interior of a small family Chinese restaurant — a few simple tables and chairs, a plain wooden service counter, two round red paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling, nobody inside.
poignant-affectionate
Loose line cartoon: a single small dog on a leash sitting at the edge of a wide, empty green sports field, gazing longingly across the marked grass it is not allowed to step onto, trees in the distance.
wry-affectionate
Loose line cartoon: a wide grassy park field at dusk dotted with families on picnic blankets and folding lawn chairs, all facing the same way and looking up at the evening sky.
affectionate
Loose line cartoon: a torn-up paved walking path through a leafy park, a small excavator and a dirt pile beside it, two people and a dog-walker pausing where the path is dug up.
wry
Loose line cartoon: an empty suburban two-lane road blocked by orange traffic barrels and a striped wooden barricade, a single car turning away in the foreground, houses and trees behind.
wry
A few children sit on the deck beside an empty community swimming pool on a hot summer day.
wry-poignant
A family sits in folding lawn chairs on a wide grassy field at dusk, one of them holding a small maple-leaf flag, with other families scattered across the field in the distance. Caption: For one evening at Clarke Fields, even Barrhaven's traffic takes the night off.
hopeful
A blank, faceless highway sign on a post beside an empty stretch of Highway 416, weeds growing at the base, a single car driving past. Caption about the 416 sign being down six months.
ironic
A frustrated driver grips the wheel of a small car bouncing over a cracked, potholed suburban road strewn with chunks of broken pavement. Caption: Carling got voted the capital's worst road. Every Strandherd driver felt personally overlooked.
wry
A single small car waits on an empty road beside a long curving row of orange traffic barrels and pylons, with lots of open space around. Caption: The 417 ramps at Woodroffe reopen at 5 a.m. The construction reopens at 9 p.m.
ironic
Two Canada geese stand in the middle of a torn-up Greenbank road construction site — a parked excavator and orange traffic barrels and piles of dirt around them. Caption: Greenbank's been under construction so long the geese filed for residency.
ironic

Got a Barrhaven situation the Herd should draw? Tell us: [email protected]. The Strand Herd is drawn by the Bugle desk; it comments on local situations, never on private individuals.