I’m hoping that this week sees us return to the happy glades of Lost Forest with its gentle folk, homespun wisdom, and simple ways. Like many of you, I yearn for those halcyon days of animal and fish poaching, arson, and the occasional kidnapping. Yes, simpler times for simpler . . . uh, hold on.

I don’t know who that kid is in panel 1, but it sure doesn’t look like the kid in panel 2. When we were last at Lost Forest, Mark was chewing out Olive Pitt for doing what he would have done, had he been there:  Putting a sock in Honest Ernest’s face for his provocations and bullying behavior.

And once again, Olive and Rusty go out on another walk. Apparently, having a post office in Lost Forest means you come and collect the mail. However, this gives Rivera the opportunity to introduce another character and story arc from the Lost Forest population. Well, the more the merrier, I say! These Lost Forest stories need fresh meat. But will this new story abide by the nature/environment focus of the strip’s raison d’être? Peach Pitt’s recent story about her macho hunter-turned-psycho ex-boyfriend pushed the boundaries of the focus on nature.

So, okay. Rivera got her joke strip out today. And it was a gentle, innocuous Family Circus kind of humor, too. But no more! No more joke strips this week!