All during this past week, we were led to believe that Mark Trail had driven back from the Glamor Gorilla Sanctuary on his own to confer with Niecy on his next steps to take. Mind you, he could have made this simpler by taking her with him and Happy. But the needs of the plot deemed otherwise.

So, this past week, Niecy dug up more dirty laundry on Gail and Guyler while Mark spent most of the week tearing his hair, wringing his hands, and invoking the wrath of Thor. Or something like that. At least, Mark is once again mainly concerned about his dad’s safety and possible impending marriage to the swindler, Gail Getz. Mark simply doesn’t know what to do, other than apparently leaving him at the Gorilla Sanctuary in the hands of Dreama (Gail Getz).

But all is not what it seems. Jules Rivera carefully kept hidden all week that Mark actually did bring Happy back home with him. Score some points to Mark for getting him away from Gail. So we discovered this on Saturday, when Happy suddenly popped into the work room where Mark and Niecy were situated, dapperly dressed (as Niecy noted) in an outfit that might have come from the Willy Wonka Clothing Emporium. His excitement about the wedding did not salve Mark’s worries, and the two were about to come to blows.

An interesting take on the 4^th, as Jules Rivera promotes the wild turkey, what we know historically as being the favored bird of Benjamin Franklin. The old story was that Franklin proposed this bird as a better avian example for the country’s Great Seal than the golden eagle. However, it seems that his only known remark on this topic was a letter to his daughter. Interestingly, it was the United States that became the first modern nation to adopt a national bird, a seemingly mundane action that soon caught on with nations around the world. There were historical precedents, which the Founders were well aware of. Rome (a never-ending source of inspiration for the US) used an eagle as a “standard” for their military legions; but they were not the first to do so. Napoleon adapted the Roman eagle standard for his armies.

A real bird of courage? I don’t know if it is courage or arrogance, but they certainly seem to be some of the most stubborn, if not most nonchallant wild birds. For example, they have no apparent fear of dropping down onto a busy street to just stand there; or casually promenade down the road. Honk and yell all you want; they just don’t care.