That’s what allowed you to head forever in a downward trajectory and still be convinced that you would be able to pop out on the other side of the nightmare your were in…  Just Like George Michel…

Boy, it’s been a while (mercifully) since we have laid eyes on Rusty’s face…  For those of you new to the strip, (is that even possible?) Rusty is the adopted son of Mark and wife Cherry (middle frame, playing the role of Buzz Killington…)  We was “rescued” from an abusive situation (alcohol induced paternal rage, so the rumors have it) and has been living with the Trail/ Davis clan for as long as anyone remembers.  He is also known to shape shift (even in the old Dodd/Elrod days) giving us the impression that the artists just never knew how to render him- what is his age, for example.  One day he might look 7 years old, another day 17… and today it seems he’s in between…  And while Cherry frets and scolds over the near death experiences Mark always shares up on his return, Rusty thinks the whole this is “neat.”  Funny thing is that, if Rusty is ever allowed to go along with Mark on “Assignment,” he will end up kidnapped and ball-gagged or some such nonsense…

…I will turn in my press card and Naturalist’s license!”  Oh thanks heavens, boys and girls… we will never have to lay eyes on Gabe and Carina again!  Talk about Independence Day!  Still not buying it, though- wandering through the desert on the U.S. side of the border without any credentials… how is it Gabe wasn’t thrown in a detention cell?  Well, I guess the border is fairly porous, and it probably matters which Border Patrol Agent you run into…

So now that we have one leg in the future and another in the past, we will have to allow ourselves to be stretched a bit… do we continue to follow the sand and surf induced lovemaking of Honey and Darling, or do we hang around Lost Forest for a while?  Tell you what, it makes categorizing each daily quite a challenge…