Editor’s Note: I came down with COVID on Saturday and feel like crap. But I’m also taking those paxlovid pills and hope they shorten this misery. Depending on how things go, I may have to post several days at once, later in the week. Just so you know, I wrote most of this stuff before the COVID hit me.

Despite an error-prone week of mixed up and missed postings on my part, I think we were still able to get the gist of Mark’s recent travails. Thinking he had a million-dollar idea for working from home, Mark’s attempt to sell an article on alligator migration and climate change met with sober disinterest from editor/corporate avatar, Bill Ellis.

Cherry, led to believe Mark’s idea was already a done deal, was surprised to learn otherwise. But Rivera cut away before we could learn whether Mark suffered the sometimes fate of Jiggs, the beleaguered husband in the old “Bringing Up Father” comic strip (which would likely not get published these days. Ah, the good ol’ days of slapstick humor).

Throwing a bone to Mark, Ellis suggested he take on an assignment to nursemaid a bunch of STEM “professionals”—presumably public school teachers of science, tech, engineering, and math—at a nearby mountain retreat. This will supposedly allow Mark to come home every night. Anyway, it’s clear enough Mark was around long enough to put together today’s nature lecture. So, check it out!

So, what I get from this is that the former versions of Mark Trail were the traditional alpha male type now in disrepute. Rivera’s take on Mark clearly fits the newer standard. Some quick online searches seem to confirm Rivera’s (Mark’s) explanation.