As I close out the week and the year, I’ll mention a new comment from long-time reader and sufferer Mark, who admitted that he never figured Rivera would last this long. I’m sure many Trailheads agree. She is now into her third year. I worry that she seems to have listened to somebody, as some of her more recent stories do not have the quirkiness, grit, and craziness of her earlier efforts. So I’m hoping for some significant hyperbolic action in Rusty’s current adventure, as opposed to his earlier cryptid hunt.

This week saw Rusty’s Bassigator hunt become more of a reality with the addition of several friends and the loan of a boat from the De-Bait Team. At least one of Rusty’s friends (still unnamed) turns out to have a personality, even if it is as a rival in the same vein as Mark’s childhood nemesis, Rob Bettancourt. Rusty’s temper (and pride) flared some but remained in check. But for how long? There are bets on who screws up this trip the most, Mark or “Cricket Bro, Jr.”

Surprisingly, Rivera focused on Rusty for most of December, which is a first. Not even Mark gets that much coverage at one time. Rivera’s usual procedure is to split story-time between Mark and Cherry. So, will Rusty continue to hold Rivera’s focus into January, or do we cut over to Cherry, to see if there is any aftermath to the uncovered love affair between Honest Ernest and Violet Cheshire? Got me, but I’m gonna spend some time looking at today’s notes from the natural world.

Regarding the health of the salmon population, local tribes have pushed for the demolition of the dams for 20 years or so. Salmon are important to the local tribes in the areas. Sources state that this is probably the largest dam demolition project in the world. Tens of thousands of area residents also benefited from the electricity produced by the hydroelectric dams, though their performance has suffered from aging and the impact of draughts. What energy source they will get to replace the dams was not specified. Perhaps very large solar farms will be installed.

Also significant is that this Sunday nature chat is not based on the current location of the main storyline in the strip, being Lost Forest. I suppose that is because the location of Lost Forest is never specified.