For those who missed this exciting week, allow me to summarize it for you as succinctly as possible: Nothing happened.
Well, in terms of action or story development, nothing happened. Instead, the week was spent with Pappy Happy and the Bunco Brothers trying to convince a skeptical, if confused, Mark about the validity and viability of their need to work with NFTs and their originators in order to attract NFT Influencers and gain their support to sell Cricket Powder. Got it? Sounds like a crock? Of course it does!

And Mark almost came to blows with Cricket Bro over a lame joke/insult. That part sounds rather topical, doesn’t it? Except that these strips are submitted many weeks in advance, so it is just an interesting happenstance. Cherry’s just-in-time arrival on the scene Saturday silenced the nattering nabobs, freezing them in place while demonstrating once again that…uh, that is to say, men don’t like to be caught out by women acting in ways they likely think women act. Of course, squabbling and name-calling are signs of weakness!  But once again, Mark is out of his depth and unable to respond properly or take charge of the situation. Best he makes a tactical retreat and reconsiders his options. One of those options has to be the Sunday nature lesson:

Aside from Mark’s silly closing question (and by the way, beavers don’t need chainsaws. They do just fine), logging is certainly a contentious problem in Oregon, where it has been the state’s leading money-maker and export. The official Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) states that “cars and trucks are the number one source of air pollution in Oregon.” But are they biased?

Other sources support Rivera’s position (feel free to repeat my Google searching). No doubt, it depends upon how you slice and present the data. And the difference seems to be minor. No matter what, logging is still a significant factor. But it also has a significant impact on local and state economies. The politics of the industry are equally complex and protected. While new trees are planted to replace old ones, they may not have the durability or capability to absorb/synthesize carbon dioxide the way old growth trees do. Still, the more trees that can be planted, the better. Not just for their visual appeal, but because they contribute to scrubbing CO₂ out of the environment.