Mark Trail, 2020 version… a man deeply aware of his own feelings, prone to brooding and introspection… and a wife who calls him Sugar, no less!
Cherry must really have the green thumb! Looks like she is able to grow plants in Portland cement!
Mark… C’mon now Mark… What aren’t you telling us?
Sparkle Lip Gloss Girls? (Or whatever the magazine is called…)
or
Mark Trail, now a gigging eco-journalist?
As Amy Lee nearly pees herself with excitement, we learn something very important today… that this Mark Trail talks to animals!! Dr. Doolittle I presume!! This was promised earlier in the description of the Trail makeover, and well, here it is! Does Cherry know this? Or is this a deep secret? He certainly came clean with Amy and Bill, and they didn’t seem the slightest bit put off by it.
Today’s Nature lesson:
Rat Snakes, are members – along with kingsnakes, milk snakes, vine snakes and indigo snakes – of the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. They are medium to large constrictors and are found throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere. They feed primarily on rodents. Many species make attractive and docile pets and one, the corn snake, is one of the most popular reptile pets in the world. As with all snakes, they can be defensive when approached too closely, handled, or restrained, but bites are not serious. Like nearly all colubrids, rat snakes pose no threat to humans. Rat snakes were long believed to be completely nonvenomous, but recent studies have shown that some Old World species do possess small amounts of venom, though the amount is negligible relative to humans.
This is really brain bending… when Mark meets the founder of “Happy Trails” he’s going to wonder what episode of the Twilight Zone he has stumbled into… OK, going to break that rule… ending the sentence with a preposition. “wonder into which episode he stumbled” just seems to be a bit much…
But here we are. A new day has dawned. Trust in our elders is at an all time low… and certainly anyone “making bank” has to have done something wrong or screwed someone else over… And what could be more fascinating than a boundary dispute?? Questioning Title to land has always been a great trigger for conflict and controversy! So Mark will play abstractor and hit the county land records? Have a survey done? Hire an attorney? Hmmm… Maybe he’ll just punch this guy and be done with it!
Marks reaction is telling!
Whoa! But wait! A strangely meta-experience is about to unfold!
Is Mark looking in a mirror? Does he feel strangely connected to this story already? I can tell all of you now, I am just touch confused by it all. But then again, Mark can’t see what Amy “Foxy” Lee is imagining. It’s all being described and shown for the viewer’s benefit, but Mark is being left in the, how you say, dark… and goes back to a dark place.
…If not the Gothic Novelist… I see whispers of Mary Shelley emerging…
Happy Trail Farms? More playing with words! In Florida, no less…
Glad to see some of you returning to take a look… out of morbid curiosity (at least…)
Welcome Amy Lee! We are continuing to round out the character roster in the new Mark Trail…
Of course Mark’s reputation precedes him! Even though he feels like he’s yesterday’s news and without prospects, apparently there is a quiet undercurrent of society that hasn’t quite forgotten him…
Appropriation! Ha! that’s a word that has never been used before in the Trailverse… Let’s unpack that, shall we?? …the action of taking something for one’s own use, typically without the owner’s permission. How, pray tell, does one go about getting a fox’s permission to use it as a spirit animal? Besides, in certain spiritual traditions or cultures, spirit animal refers to a spirit which helps guide or protect a person on a journey and whose characteristics that person shares or embodies. It is also metaphor, often humorous, for someone or something a person relates to or admires. Sense of humor much? Let’s see where this goes, but if we are asked to go too far down the PC path, this could get a little taxing… Or perhaps this is simply a window into Amy Lee’s world view.
In the old days, we never really had much to go on as it related to Mark’s psyche… In fact, it was always assumed that his brain consisted of a fairly shallow pool of emotional intelligence paired with a deep, endless reservoir of arcane and useless knowledge of the Natural world…
But now… oh my. We see his brain whip-sawing back and forth imagining all kinds of things. But with his square jaw firmly set, and in consideration of the fact that he’s got nothing else going on, and with his livelihood and self esteem on the line, Mark relents and dives in!
I normally don’t check the Sunday offering, but out of curiosity (and as pointed out by Faithful Reader George) I was wondering about what this part of the Trailverse would look like, and here we find Jack Elrod’s take on the common Chipmunk (part of the Squirrel family?) auditioning for a Lifetime special on hoarding.
For what it’s worth, I have personally witnessed a chipmunk make off with a dying Sunfish, left on the shore at the cabin. Gathering yes, but clearly something that would “go bad” if not consumed in real-time…
Speaking of something going bad in real time… we now go to Mark and Bill Ellis talking about potential assignments… with a nod to the age of COVID…
Ha ha! It’s funny because Mark has whiskers!
HA! I see what you did there, Julz… A little not-so-vague reference to (probably) the best known and hated offering of the Allen regime… OK, come out swinging, I guess, but that approach might not work out so well…
Perhaps maybe more important is the fact that Mark is now a verified member of the Gig Economy… Something that I have wondered about over the course of this blog- whether Mark was salaried or paid by the Article… Well, there’s no guessing about that now…
Uh oh… Mark NOT happy… and goes to a dark place… and a cautionary lesson in expectations, which drive satisfaction and (more often) disappointment. Best to keep them moderated…
And one by one, we get to see who made the jump!
With the day’s shooting scuttled over an uncooperative snake, Mark and Cherry amble back to their little cabin in “The” Lost Forest. Like there’s another? I don’t think so… I see a greenhouse and Azaleas all abloom…
Mark, you got an email? Really?? The average person, with average on-line habits, probably receives 50 emails a day! Or maybe the excitement is over Bill Ellis reaching out. Let’s see what happens to him- Suit? Horn-rimmed glasses? Crazy slicked-back hair? Manhattan tower office? It is probably all up for grabs…
I wonder why Mark is bereft of assignments… Could it be he’s a free-lance writer/blogger/vlogger in the new gig economy? Well, anyone reading this blog knows that monetizing this kind of activity isn’t as easy as the “experts” suggest… for every “influencer” out there making bank, there are literally millions not “making it.”
But good for you, Cherry. With your brains and Mark’s sweet back-side, how can you guys lose?
Boy, I am going to learn a lot reading this strip! That’s a euphemism unfamiliar to me… and apparently to Google, since the only results are related to milking mice…
I see how this is going to be… Mark, the man, is going to be asked to acknowledge his own limitations on a daily basis. While not necessarily emasculating, it’s going to be different that Mark Trail of yore… although I do like Cherry’s suggestion…
Not only doesn’t it rhyme, I am guessing your 4th grade grammar teacher is rolling in her coffin right about now!
Writer’s Note: Not only am I being asked to consume Mark Trail with a new set of expectations, but WordPress continues to create all kinds of issues- like having to enter through an incognito window in order to save the blog entry… which means I have to log in every time, including two-factor codes, any time I wish to make or edit an entry… I checked the google, and it’s a thing, but it would strike me that this wasn’t intended…
2020- such is the way. I wonder if Nostradamus saw any of this coming?
It’s not like it took me all day to come to grips with this… in fact I have been looking forward to it. It’s just that my paying gig took up my day starting very early! Anyway, we have seen this one before, which is interesting because it seems to start in the middle of something…
But here are some screen shots of the write-up in <my> local paper:
Funny how Mark Trail seems to be a thing. At least for people who still read newspapers… I am encouraged by the notion that there will be an actual STORY with and ARC that MOVES. That will be refreshing.
Well, here we go Campers, the last of an era, one that brings comfort and calm. One where everything always works out. One where hard truths are buried, like how Cherry banished Andy in a fit of pique…
No! Blame it on Tabby! or Cherry! Andy was simply there being Andy, a useful tool in the play called life!
And Mark, remember you QUIT. But I guess this all doesn’t matter much as we head into the Jules Rivera Era!
Mr. Williams, you will have to forgive Mark Trail. He’s a little dense… a little slow on the uptake. Need to be obvious. He’s been hit in the head many times over his career as the namesake of this strip.
Magic Words? “We NEED you?” “Substantial RAISE?” Not sure what Mark’s needs are, but either one or a combination is probably fairly satisfying… I mean, who doesn’t need a little validation from time to time? Mark just got two doses, at least- a MAJOR (if not manufactured) award, and more money!
OK, it’s t-minus 1 day before Mark joins the 21st Century (for real) and I hope we are all strapped in!
…because that’s EXACTLY how things work in real life… Big boss realizes he’s “wrong,” and as a result feels overly generous… Of course his idea of a “big raise” is probably different than Mark’s…
But here’s a question… How do we go from the black-tie awards ceremony back to the office on Park Avenue? Unless the last strip (from yesterday) was actually “the next day” and Cherry and Rusty were still laying rose petals at Mark’s feet… Only to have Bill Ellis call Mark at Lost Forest from the office? I know, I over-think these things, but I hope that Jules Rivera spends a little more time ensuring continuity than history would demonstrate. Or then, maybe that’s part of the Trailverse I will end up missing most?
As Mark and his “friends” watch the broadcast of the conservation awards (really?) Editor Bill Ellis of Woods and Wildlife magazine addresses the crowd…
Why not, you know? Why not change the rules, especially when the rules don’t favor the outcome that you prefer? I bet there are some pissed off finalists that are crying foul! Does Woods and Wildlife sponsor this awards dinner? was there ever any doubt that their boy, Mark, was going to be the winner?? I am not clear at all about how unbiased these awards are… I think I smell a rat… or a beaver…
No one is surprised- not even the Beaver Family… but Mark sure looks pleased…
Oh, Mark, please stop with the false modesty! And, Yes, I am pretty sure you still have a job…
Sorry for the delay these last few days, Campers, I was visiting the south shore of Gitche Gumee and was without internet for a few days…
From Port Wing to Bayfield and back… perfect weather and a lovely time!
I know it’s an old bit… “Mark and his Friends are watching…” and the immediate reaction is, “What?! Mark has friends?” Sure he looks up or stumbles upon “Ol’ Friends” as the story arcs are set up, but we never really take that phrase literally. His reputation for Emotionally Unintelligent is legendary, and certainly Mark’s ability to have actual friends would be quite limited… Yet, here we are, looking in on “Mark and his friends,” who actually are just his family…
With the Awards Program on the Color TV, gloriously wrapped in furniture grade cherry wood, Bill Ellis is about to take the stage and explain to the (30 or so) people watching across this great land, that the “must be there to win” policy is just plain wrong… And if Mark isn’t the winner, why bring this up at all??
As a treat I thought I would include the Sunday recycle…
… partly because I am curious to see what happens to this is in the coming weeks- we’ll have one more on 10/11, but then what?? And also because I am fascinated by the word choice in the last panel, “Bruin.” The Great Bruin… I guess I never thought about it being an actual word, other than the name of the Boston Hockey team, but I guess it is!! Who knew?
Just so you can get a big ol’ lick from Andy! That’s why!
Andy’s thinking, “Stay away from me, you little cur…” Sort of like the talking dogs on Tik-Tok… “I was fine until my hoomans bought me this little thing.. I haven’t know a day of peace since…)
TV? You mean we have that in Lost Forest?! And there is enough interest in Nature Magazines to build an entire awards program out of it? And it would be airing in the Northern Georgia market? We have been asked to believe some really far-fetched things over the years, but this takes to cake!
In a predictable “Happy Ending,” Andy the Great St. Bernard is released into Mark’s Care and Custody… to be reunited with the family at Lost Forest…
Not sure if that’s Rusty or Cherry getting mauled, given the red highlights and boy-like body shape… But what’s interesting about this second panel is the emergence of “Sassie,” Rusty’s little Dalmatian runt. Long before Tabby ever showed up, it was Sassie that caused no end of trouble and heartache for Rusty and the entire clan…
It is nice to see that animals are able to smile, as witnessed by today’s installment…
The Daily Trail 