The flash flood continued this past week and worsened, as Mark finally cajoled the team to move to higher ground. Again. Tess remained a flood denier and it seemed like Shania was just uncertain and angry. At times, the sequence of actions seemed confused. Were they going up? Walking in a circle? Not moving at all? It wasn’t always easy to tell. Jess and Tess were at the tail end of a human chain designed to safely ascend a hill. But once again, the drawings were confusing. You’ll just have to go back and look.

Even though it appeared they were ascending, somehow Tess managed to get swept up in the flood waters. Perhaps it was rising very quickly. But swept away she was, even when she seemed to be floating on top of the water. The moment of truth: WWMD? Well, this is Mark’s strip, of course, so he showed up at the waterline (along with the others), found a large tree branch lying around, and jumped in the water to save Tess. Yet, this week ended with Tess blaming Mark.

Is this the end of the story? Could be. It’s a safe bet that it’s the end of the camping trip, since the team lost everything in the deluge.

Now, I wonder which Bill Ellis magazine this story will appear in? Regular readers know that Jules Rivera used to have Bill Ellis assign a story to one of the several magazines he supervises. Not any longer, it seems. None was mentioned this time around. Still, some of  you may appreciate that this is more like the good ol’ days when Mark only interacted with Bill Ellis and his one magazine, Woods & Wildlife. Well, I liked the idea of multiple magazines and editors, as it could have presented an opportunity for different types of assignments and opportunities. Sadly, Rivera never really fleshed out this idea and it gradually disappeared, like so many of Mark’s friends in the past.

Nature webcams can be interesting. We watched the birth and growth of a pair of hummingbirds one summer, up to the point where they literally flew the coop, er, nest, never to return. I suppose I could criticize this public-service announcement by suggesting it would have been handy had Mark listed what the web link was or just explained to those not that web savvy, how to search for it. Other than that, it’s a good Sunday nature subject.