The week-before concluded with Cliff and Mark at the hospital so Connor could get his finger fixed from a hooking accident. They ran into Cherry and Violet, who were there with Honest Ernest. This ER meetup saw Cliff pushing the “express your feelings!” mantra on Mark, while Connor and Ernest were literally out of the picture and forgotten for the week. Mark started to wonder whether he was suppressing.

This past week, we found Cliff and Mark back on the job taking Eli, Ranger Shaw, and a repaired Connor on a hike. What survival techniques were discussed or demonstrated? Oh, dear readers, don’t be naïve!

On the hike Connor had a mini-meltdown that turned into an impromptu group hug around Mark, who was decidedly uncomfortable with this forced situation. Can’t blame him. As they broke to return to the fishing lodge, Eli had his moment in the sun when he spotted a bat (order: chiroptera) lying on the ground, so he touched it and got scratched on the hand…sound familiar? What are the odds!? This week ended like the prior one, with Cliff and Mark (back) at the ER.

Was this Adventures in true feelings meant to poke fun at the presumed troglodyte Trailheads who miss the old strip? Rivera should know that males and females do not always express emotions the same way. But it never seemed to me that Mark has had problems expressing his true feelings, even to Cherry; at least since Rivera took over. So I hope this week puts an end to Mark’s survival retreat. I also hope Rivera gets this adventure strip back on track, with Mark putting the hurt on people and companies taking advantage of animals, nature, and the environment. But if expressing inner feelings is your drama of choice, try Garfield.

A classic animal-centered Sunday topic with a clever visual pun in the title panel, connecting a Ford Motor Company logo style with a running mustang (I presume). Wikipedia has a decent article on horses, if you are curious.