And the next day, Georgia gets a bill from the Sunny Soleil Society to pay for the hibiscus. So, is Rivera wrapping up this story, as well?

BTW: Commenter Daniel P made an interesting observation yesterday about the lack of any “evil doer” in Cherry’s story. That is so. Mostly, it’s been about recovering the bee population in Georgia’s bee hives that were lost to “colony collapse disorder.” It’s a pertinent observation.

Daniel’s comment made me think (and that hurts!). There is almost always an antagonist that the protagonist (Mark or Cherry) has to defeat. Cherry’s current adventure might be a departure from this standard hero-villain format and more of a story about everyday problem-solving and relationships. Instead of a human villain, the antagonist here is natural processes that have to be overcome or worked around.

Still, there may yet be a human villain on the other side of the bush!

It’s nice to see that Cherry’s mind can keep up with us astute readers! Okay, so it was not a terribly complicated idea. But that means, if I also thought of it, then there must be something about to go wrong. Maybe Cherry gets billed by Violet for the flowers.

Scroll down and you will soon see the post for Monday, being the conclusion of Mark’s train adventure.

(Tue) Solve what problem? It seems to me talking with Mark creates problems. Anyway, standing beside a nice carving of a male cardinal (it is a carving, right?), Cherry gets interrupted by Violet Cheshire, possibly signaling the start a new story. Like Mark, Cherry’s stable of opponents seems to be limited. This does not bode well, but we can hope for a new nemesis.

 Ignorance and Arrogance: Always a bad combination!

(Wed) One might have thought that Violet would already know whether the SSS president likes hibiscus flowers, as well as whether she is allergic to them, especially given Violet’s prominent position (whatever that is). Apparently, Violet purchased and installed these new flowers without conferring with Cherry or having her do the installation. Does Cherry even still work for the Sunny Soleil Society? Violet seems unfazed and unconcerned. Rivera has made Violet’s pettiness, insecurity, and shallowness transparent from the start. So why would Cherry be surprised?

Cherry ponders the fate of the hibiscus.

(Thur) Let’s just ask the obvious question: Why can’t whoever put them in take them out? Seems pretty logical, right? In any event, out they go! But where, Cherry wonders? I have an idea:  Plant them over at Georgia’s place to attract new bees. In fact, there is a special hibiscus bee, but it tends to be solitary, and it nests underground in hard soil by salt marshes. Fortunately, the hibiscus can attract other bees, too.

.

Georgia does all of the work and Cherry, enthralled by the information Georgia has spoon-fed her, is already starting to act as if she is actively involved, herself. That is, until she got notified on her phone about the newest episode of “America’s Wildest Police Chases.”  Okay, this is not the cliffhanger I was hoping for, but it gets us out of this rambling interlude.

Yeah, you tell her, Cherry! Be the master organic gardener. What’s wrong with a few weevils, aphids, and Japanese beetles, anyway? Is that why you seem to have so much free time and so few customers for your lawn and landscaping business? But I wonder where Georgia is getting her “Dyno-Mite” chemical application from? Could it come from one of Cherry’s main nemeses? Maybe we’ll find out on Saturday. That will make for a dramatic cliffhanger.

Anyway, my wife and I were talking today (we actually do that once in a while) and she asked me “What kind of music would Mark Trail listen to?” I was stumped. Just what kind of music would Mark listen to? Would Cherry like the same or different music? I think the pre-Rivera Mark and Cherry, being the old-school rural citizens they were, would like bluegrass. Maybe even some “Great American Songbook” music or “classic country.” You know, nostalgic comfort songs. But for our newer, millennial Mark and Cherry, I don’t think Bill Monroe or Vic Damone would cut it. Perhaps musicians such as Hootie & the Blowfish, Foo Fighters, Tupac, Metallica, Prince, or Beyoncé? I dunno. What do you think? think? (I think I forgot to do a second proofread!)

Note: I saw that a reader over on Comics Kingdom commented on the apparent “smiley face” seen in the thought bubble in panel 2 of yesterday’s strip. In fact, it looks like a ghost or cloud face, which is either winking or has a black eye. Anyway, go ahead and look if you don’t recall. I’ll wait. I saw that face yesterday, as well, but didn’t think it worth saying anything about it at the time. But today, there is another possible smiley face in panel 2, kind of a clown face with a short screw-lid hat. Or so it seems. We humans are pattern finders by nature, so it is possible these “faces” are coincidental arrangements by Rivera. What do you think?

Anyway, getting back to the story:  Is this even a story? Is it going anywhere? “For my next demonstration, Cherry, pull my finger!” This is looking more like a female version of “Mr. Wizard.” I mean, just where can you go with this plot? There’s no villain to foil, except nature.

I suggested some time ago that Rivera should have Cherry host the Sunday nature chat one in a while, maybe even with guests such as Georgia. I think she could have given a much more informative presentation on Varroa Mites than Mark.  Better that than trying to add some meat to this very lean bone of a story.

Wow, completely new information?! Who knew Varroa mites hit these beehives? Who knows anything about these creatures?  Well, just about anybody who has been reading the strip since at least June would. Cherry Trail must be having a memory loss, since Georgia informed her about the mites in mid-June. And Mark gave us an exposition on Varroa mites last Sunday. I reckon Cherry does not read the Sunday comics pages, either.

So, is Rivera just padding out the story with rehashed information and sketchy art in order to meet her deadlines? Is she still trying to figure out where to take this story? It is a shame to reduce Cherry’s involvement here to that of some clueless child.

If Cherry takes the trouble to write Georgia’s explanation down, she can go home and tell Rusty and Dad all about the mites, which I am sure would make interesting reading in a comic strip.

Well, I guess today’s panels function as a “For those of you who came in late…” recap, as this information was originally shared between Georgia and Cherry over breakfast in Planet Pancake back in June. Of course, that story seemed to have arbitrarily stopped, once the cause of the bee failure was diagnosed. Now, it resumes.

At least nobody here is being chased by law enforcement after punching out some cops.