Well, the mailbox was not exactly overwhelmed with responses to my little contest. So unfortunately, nobody had the winning answer for the new car. I may have forgotten to mention that. Well, better luck next time.

Speaking of unfortunate, this past week was like watching a man haunted by his own frustrated sense of justice and need for revenge, and… oh, that is what this past week was, come to think of it. Cherry dropped Mark back off at his fortress of safety (Cliff’s fishing lodge). Aside from some campy innuendoes, Mark spent time this week grumbling about how the world would be so much better if Duck Duck Goose ships quit bringing zebra mussels into the waters of Lost Forest. The week ended with the lightbulb in Mark’s brainpan flashing on as he came up with an idea for frightening either the ship(s) or the ship’s owners into vacating Lost Forest waters. Mark was not talking about stopping boats everywhere; just in his own backyard. Does this make Mark a NIMBY? Well, he certainly knows that he can’t save the entire world in one fell swoop, so maybe cleaning up his own neighborhood is a good enough place to start. But it still looks like “kick the can” down the river. In the meantime, check out today’s Sunday nature chat.

Another clever title panel, based on a not-too-surprising subject. Today’s topic provides the context to Diana Dagger’s remark yesterday about poinsettias being stolen from Mexico in the early 1800s. The name “Poinsettia” certainly shows a Eurocentric bias that ignored its contemporary Mexican roots, so to speak. We can give the Aztec name a pass, but the Mexican name above (or its translation, “Christmas Eve Flower”) is quite nice and a shame to not be retained north of the border. The history of the plant’s distribution, naming, and cultivation is a complex topic. It is possible that the Americans and Europeans were ignorant as to whether Mexicans cultivated the plant. It’s also likely that Poinsett sent back a cultivated version of the plant without making that clear. But just as likely he didn’t care. It became a source of long-running national animosity. A good discussion can be found here: https://www.actahort.org/chronica/pdf/ch5103.pdf#page=23