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The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Everybody rallied around Eli at the hospital, where he received the first of several rabies shots for being a doofus. Interestingly, nobody rallied around Connor the week before for his self-inflicted thumb wound. I’m not too sure what warranted a hospital bed for Eli, but it’s a small hospital and maybe they thought he might have a reaction. Mark took this opportunity to apologize to everybody for his incompetent teaching and leadership, which should be a clear signal for him to stay in his safe lane. In the end, Mark was happy that his students were nice (or gullible) enough to accept his apology and share in his kumbaya gratitude by agreeing to go fishing with him. Quietly, one presumes.

Wrap Up: Well, even for Rivera, this was not your typical Mark Trail adventure. It was not based on a job-related assignment. There were no clear villains or environmental issues to resolve, other than Mark’s consternation at perceived dangers from bad survival guides. Mark pledged to create a survival school to teach men how to survive by providing real and accurate information. Good intentions, to be sure, and a sure-fire plot setup for useful information and even some drama. Unfortunately, Rivera dumbed down the survival concept to a fishing seminar. Also, why did Mark want to limit the retreat to only men? It was not at all clear at the start. It became apparent when the De-Bait Team talked Mark into focusing on helping men express their feelings to help them with their domestic issues. Why was this a good idea, anyway? So this story changed course and became a soap-opera parody of how men (like Mark) don’t like expressing their feelings. Did the story resolve anybody’s emotional issues? No. Did the men learn to deal with their feelings any better? No. Did any student actually learn to fish? No. Was this story worth our time? No!

Let’s see if today’s nature talk is more worthy.

This is a nice bite-sized piece of information, focusing on the contrast between the LMB’s invasive status in U.S. waters and its popularity for fishing. In other words, fishing for LMB is actually good for the environment and local water species! I may have to dust off my cane pole and bobber this summer.

The Week in Review and Sunday Nature Chat

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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.

The Story in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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If you are new to Mark Trail or just behind the curve, I’ll catch you up with Mark’s current adventure. That is, today’s post is really a “Story in Review.”  

After rescuing a paranoid and delusional camper named Connor who got “lost”, mentally and physically, in Lost Forest, Mark was inspired to start a “Survival Retreat” to teach men proper camping skills instead of having to rely on dangerous tips in phony survival books (such as the one Connor used). Mark’s friends at the De-Bait Team fishing lodge were recruited to help out. They recommended that Mark’s retreat could also be useful to help men express their emotional & relationship issues. Unwisely, Mark agreed to this needless complication.

Mark began the first day with a fishing class held indoors, not an auspicious decision. He had three insecure students, including Connor, who complained and blamed Mark for everything. Cliff pushed the idea of going for a hike so the guys could talk out their feelings. It was vetoed by Mark. After Connor impaled his finger on a fishing hook, the class self-destructed. Mark and Cliff rushed Connor off to the hospital.

Then Cherry and Violet arrived at the ER with Honest Ernest to get him rabies shots because he got scratched by a bat due to his bad judgment. You see the symmetry between these two events? Cherry spotted Mark, so they wound up consoling each other. Mark had a sudden revelation that his own fishing activities (over the years?) must have been an excuse to suppress his inner feelings. It’s a wonder he didn’t fall down on his knees and beg Cherry for forgiveness.

I’m guessing that Mark’s confession was necessary for Rivera to help pull the story together and push the real plot of this adventure. It also gave Cliff the opportunity to rub it in: “That’s what I’ve been telling you (see above) … hikes get men talking!” Frankly, this seems incongruent, since Rivera’s version of Mark Trail has never been one to hold back on expressing feelings, even in this very adventure!  And now that you’re caught up, prepare yourself for the nature chat, below.

That’s a good cloud title panel. Rivera is back to one of her go-to topics: The environment. It’s a timely message, though I wonder if Rivera wrote this during the Oregon Trails story (Feb-Jul 2022), which featured an NFT and virtual coin scam.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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This was the week where a solution for removing bats from the Great Hall was thrust upon Cherry when Honest Ernest suddenly showed up in his trademark yellow jumpsuit. Violet confirmed hiring him to remove the bats. Cherry was less than impressed.

Cherry questioned his knowledge and preparedness, even offering him her gloves for protection, since Ernest had no protective clothing on. Naturally, he had the situation under control and declined Cherry’s offer. Ernest retrieved a pest-control sprayer from his work van and entered the Great Hall. Not surprisingly, the bats once again fled, one of them nicking Ernest in the face as it flew out. In spite of his attempts to play it down, the gals insisted on taking Honest Ernest to the hospital for rabies shots.

While this story may not exactly be a barnburner of drama and action, it has the advantage (like other adventures of Cherry’s) of being more or less a slice of daily life, however nutty the people are. Her stories are grounded in the local landscape of her community. I wish Rivera would open up the community even more and expand the cast of characters and storylines. She has made a start with Jeanine, Georgia, her mysterious brother, and Squirrely Sandy. C’mon, Rivera! Don’t sell Cherry or your readers short. Cherry does not need to face off against the same cast every time. New characters simply have to inspire new ideas and storylines.

Anyway, while we wait two weeks to find out what happens, Mark has another Sunday topic to present. Take it away, Mark!

So, Mark focuses on reindeer over Christmas holiday. Seems like an appropriate subject! I listened to an NPR interview the other day that discussed reindeer and covered most of these points with regard to their surviving the cold. Another point the interviewer went into was the sophisticated “heat exchange” setup within their thin legs to them from freezing and breaking off.

Normally, Rivera’s punchlines are like bad “Dad jokes.” But I think this one hit the Funny Bone. Well done.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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As another week concludes, some of you look forward (I hope) to this modest (okay, verbose) weekly digest as a way to keep abreast of Lost Forest Follies without having to wander through the briars and brambles of its daily treks. But be of good cheer, for I will fear no lanternfly. My baggie and spray protect me. Mark’s grandiose plan for hosting a men’s survival retreat to protect inexperienced dudes from getting victimized by phony survival books (such as the one used by Connor) finally began its inaugural class this week. Huzzah!

Well, almost. Mark’s survival retreat for men got watered down to an Introduction to Fishing seminar, inside the De-Bait Team’s fishing lodge. Rivera skipped us past the plan’s revision and organizing phases, including how it was that the initial class wound up with only three students:  A game warden, lonely because his wife was on vacation; a nattily dressed fellow named Eli who just likes fishing; and Connor, who immediately began a week-long tirade of insulting Mark.

While inside the lodge, Mark figured it was a good place to teach the class how to cast a fishing line (rather than doing this outside). Can we blame Rivera for a lack of fishing experience or is she simply indulging in more Mark Trail Mockery? She focused most of the week on Connor, who managed to entangle his hands in fishing line, while blaming Mark. It was a missed opportunity. Had this happened outside, Connor might have suffered another accident, such as falling into the river and drowning. The week ended with Mark berating himself for thinking up this whole stupid idea. But the drama continues on Monday. Until then . . .

Now this is very interesting. It led me to discover that the European Robin and its American Cousin are not really related, as the American Robin is part of a different genus: Their similarity is cosmetic. The topic was interesting enough for me to do a bit of research. Biology shows that the European Robin (and some other birds) do utilize electromagnetic fields of the earth to help navigate during migration. This process is not fully understood, as far as I can tell, but does not appear to be in doubt. But I saw no mention of animals exhibiting their own electromagnetic fields, or robins using each other’s magnetic field for navigating. Rivera clearly has sources I do not and I’m not a biologist. The literature is complex, so I may just be misreading things. Anybody out there experienced enough to shed any light?

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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As most of you know, I add a title to Mark’s and Cherry’s adventures. This can make it a little easier when searching through prior strips, as the titles show up under the Categories label.  However, I’ve not yet been able to settle on names for either Mark’s or Cherry’s latest adventures. With regard to Cherry, I’m not even sure what the actual point of the story is just yet. My current assumption is that it will still have something to do with an outdoor festival. Moving on to the review:

We returned to Cherry this past week to see her walking through the Sunny Soleil Society’s gardens with Violet, looking for anything that will give Violet a purpose to enjoy the outdoors. She came up with an outdoor winter festival. Violet was excited by the prospect, especially as she saw an opportunity to play her harp (not sure what kind). Walking past the old bee-headed pioneer statue (cf “Sunny and the Bees”), they came upon a little-used hexagonal meeting/performance hall. Thinking it could be useful, they opened the double-doors, only to be knocked tail-over-teakettle by a swarm of bats that had taken refuge inside. The week ended with the two ladies sitting on the ground and commiserating over the shock.

So where does the story go from here? We’ll likely have to wait a few weeks to find out if this is yet another short tale. In the meantime, squander a few minutes of your time on today’s nature exposé.

People older than they want to admit may recall a red fox named Ferdie in an early episode of the animated cartoon series “Caspar the Friendly Ghost.” He and Caspar were friends, until Ferdie met his end at the hands of a hunter. This resulted in Ferdie turning from red to white as he became a ghost fox, a rare species not usually mentioned in discussions on foxes. But he and Casper remained friends, at least as long as the series lasted.

But it was not destined to last. When the series ended, Ferdie the ghost fox fell on hard times as roles for ghost foxes became as hard to find as, well, ghosts. Ferdie was apparently an “extra” in some of the Ghostbuster movies but was not able to get royalties.  A proposed talk show failed to materialize. He turned to drinking but discovered he couldn’t hold his liquor. Ferdie’s depression only increased when he realized that even suicide was no longer possible. Ferdie tried to sue Casper and his animation studio for wrongful death and illegally withholding earnings, but he didn’t stand a ghost of a chance of winning. Ferdie has not been seen in years.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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If you were too busy this week with Thanksgiving, preparing for Winter, preparing to avoid Winter, or just watching as much “MeTV” as you could stomach, then I can fill you in on the past week’s strips.

There was not much in the Action Department; this was a week for Man Talk. Mark arrived at the De-Bait Team’s lodge, where he met up with Duke and Cliff to discuss his idea for a men’s-only nature retreat. Based on the sad plight of the lost-then-found camper (whose name we learned is Connor), Mark expressed strong emotional rage against the bad influence of the error-prone survival guide of Tadd Crass and how it could lead to future disasters for men who live around Lost Forest. Mark must fix that!

Along the way, it came out that Connor was having relationship issues, and it was suggested that it might have led to his unwise decision to escape into Lost Forest. With that untested assumption in place, Duke and Cliff actually suggested Mark should also offer relationship advice to all of the men who are sure to sign up for the retreat (because why else would men want to go camping?) Mark’s off-the-frayed-cuff response about successful relationships was to the effect of “Look good, bring home the bacon, and don’t forget dessert.” The question remains: If this is a sample of their wisdom and experience, what does Mark want from Cliff and Duke?

Meanwhile, I had questions about the underlying purpose of the strip, itself. You’ll have to go back and read the daily posts for the details. With luck, I’ll be totally wrong.

No arguments about this from me. People continue to cuddle up to wild animals as if they are having tea with Bambi and Thumper. It’s foolish and dangerous. That includes putting food scraps on your steps or in your yard for the benefit of raccoons, possums, etc. They start showing up in greater numbers or frequency, leading to potentially bad outcomes for pets and children.

BTW, I still think Mark’s beard upgrade is cheap. If Rivera doesn’t like to stipple beards, she can just drop the whole beard thing. Mark can sport bandages from shaving with his wilderness survival knife.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Welcome to TW3: This Was The Week That Whoofed. The Kudzu Commander Caper came to a less-than mysterious ending, revealing that Violet Cheshire was the slanderous Kudzu Commander,  all because of her need for companionship and long walks in the wilderness. But the only way she could find a solution was to slander Cherry’s reputation in order to create a reason for teaming up and going on the hunt. Violet might have gotten more mileage out of this charade, except that she bungled the job by accidentally revealing her complicity.

Squirrelly Sandy and her zombie squirrels were bribed to come along for this final act, performing more or less like an ancient Greek deity in Homer’s Odyssey:  cajoling the two women, interfering in their actions, and reacting with indifference to the climax of this sad adventure. At least this adventure didn’t last ten years.

It now looks as if Rivera has wrapped up both Rustys’s (Mark’s) alien/camper story as well as Cherry’s kudzu quest. What new adventure awaits us on Monday? I don’t know, but there’s no need to wait for the Sunday nature discussion.

Okay, that’s an interesting title panel formed by turkeys sleeping in trees. We see numerous wild turkeys around the Twin Cities in the fall, even in town. They will strut along sidewalks, hang out on corners, and sometimes just stand in the street, as if daring traffic to hit them, which sometimes happens. They don’t seem particularly concerned about humans, which isn’t a good strategy for them. But seeing them fly is remarkable, both because of their appearance in flight and because it doesn’t seem like they would be capable of flying. You can ponder Mark’s politics on your own.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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This past week was dedicated to the search-and-recovery summary, which Mark initially tried to downplay. Skipping over several details, Mark told Cherry that they found the lost camper that he had earlier surmised, in a delirious state. Mark put that off to following the bad advice in the guidebook written by former TV comedian and presumed huckster, Tadd Crass. But Mark’s ongoing discussion led to his own disclosure that what the world needs now is not love, sweet love, but a retreat for training men in forest survival techniques, as conducted by a professional. Namely, Mark.

This entire story is thus, a bit perplexing. Did Rivera concoct Rusty’s alien invasion adventure solely for the purpose of jump-starting Mark’s survival course adventure? That would trivialize Rusty’s story, right? In other words, what started out as a “Rusty” story was actually just another Mark Story with Rusty as a plot device. I must remind myself that the name of this comic strip is Mark Trail. I shouldn’t lose focus!

It just seems that every time Rusty gets some story-time thrown his way, he becomes another Charlie Brown, facing failure and disappointment. It would be nice to see things go Rusty’s way once in a while. That’s not too much to ask, is it, Jules?

It took a few moments for me to realize that the title panel is meant to be a large leaf, overlapping smaller leaves that surround it. Sometimes I just miss the pattern, like the hidden images in those autostereogram (aka “stereogram”) patterns popular back in the 1990s. Well, today’s strip looks very decorative, in a 2-D sort of way. The poured leaves are surrounded by a heavy black border, that makes them look more like they were just a big cut out. Even the trees look more like paper cutouts. But this does fit in with what appears to be Rivera’s increasingly flattened, decorative style.

Getting back to the title panel, I don’t think constructing the strip’s title using leaf veins is successful. It’s just too busy and forced. A more successful result might have been made using the stems of leaves, or maybe a combination of leaf stems plus the leaves. Well, it works in my head, anyway.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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This past week saw the possible conclusion of Rusty’s alien crash search adventure as the lad—in company with faithful house pet, Andy—returned to the abandoned campsite in the middle of the night to uncover more evidence of an alien (Rusty’s hope) or a lost camper (Mark’s deduction). Why Rusty thought a midnight search would uncover more evidence than a daytime search is probably more a matter of drama superseding practicality. But it worked! Rusty and Andy were surprised by sounds and a dark form moving within the bushes. Spooky-wooky!

Mark, discovering Rusty’s exit from the house, lost time getting dressed before he could chase after him, but he arrived at the correct time to put himself between Rusty and the mysterious figure who turned out to be some anonymous crazy guy who had been following the bad tips in Tadd Crass’s camping guidebook. But did we hear from this dude? Nope! Rivera just moved us directly to a scene of an ambulance taking the poor guy away for treatment, as Mark and Rusty philosophized their way back home. While this looks like the end of Rusty’s adventure, one has to wonder: Is Rivera going to give us another week in the cabin where Rusty and Mark explain to Cherry what happened? Is this where we find out who this guy is and how he wound up in Lost Forest? Well, don’t you feel lost; just find your way to the strip below and follow along!

A nice tie-in to Rusty’s midnight search with a night-themed firefly topic! When I was growing up fireflies were very common in our yard and neighborhood. I think we called them lightning bugs. I bet some of you also liked to catch them and put them in a jar with a bit of twig-and-leaf, as if they would enjoy it. Up here in the north I rarely see fireflies. They may be more common in the rural area, but as they tend to like temperate zones, their rarity is not surprising. One surprising thing I discovered is that the female of at least one species of fireflies attracts males only to consume them for their toxic defensive chemicals. Oh, if  you are going to follow Mark’s advice about keeping part of your yard “wild”, be sure to avoid using any chemicals in that area.

Art Dept. The customized title panel might have been more effective with a darker background. Nevertheless, this is an interesting topic drawn in Rivera’s usual sparse style.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Summary: We spent the week in bed with Rusty. Sort of. Rusty continued his online research after bedtime, only to come up with more reasons to suggest Mark’s idea of a lost camper might hold more weight than online reports of a crashed alien spacecraft. But Rusty still wasn’t satisfied and thought that a midnight on-site investigation, assisted only by Andy, might reveal more evidence, one way or the other. But as Rusty tried to quietly get out of the house, he was spotted from the kitchen by Mark, who happened to be up getting a glass of water. We ended the week with a sputtering Mark putting on shoes and coat, trying to catch up.

Analysis: Even though this was a week mostly spent in Rusty’s bedroom, the storyline did not seem to drag like the week before.  In fact, it was an interesting week watching Rusty try to reason through the evidence, matching it against his own bias and that of his father. Readers have commented on Rivera’s often redundant and pointless narration boxes. In her earlier days, Rivera was more creative with narrations and didn’t always feel the need to explain the obvious. What changed? I agree that they are not needed most of the time. The narration box in panel 1 of Saturday’s strip in an exception as it provides an explanation for Mark’s appearance. However, why have a narration box in panel 4 for Saturday stating Mark was chasing after Rusty when the panel shows Mark chasing after Rusty!?

I’ll give Rivera props for coming up with an actually interesting Hallowe’en-themed Sunday nature topic. The title panel is also intriguing. Is the armadillo crossing over a split log, whose wood grain spells out “Mark Trail”? That’s my take, anyway.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Summary: Monday and Tuesday were devoted to Hallmark-style greetings between Mark, Rusty, and Cherry as the duo arrived home from their alien hunt. Cherry did not discuss her own adventure. The rest of the week carried a series of discoveries and conclusions—in between slices of pizza—regarding the horse head mask and pink crystals (Himalayan salt) found at the abandoned campsite. With Rusty’s online discovery of former TV prank star Tad Crass’s dangerous (according to Mark) survival guide, Mark found confirmation for his suspicion that there is somebody in Lost Forest who is not only lost, but in physical distress.

Analysis: The pacing feels rushed, with Rusty’s and Mark’s discoveries and conclusions happening just a tad too quickly. This isn’t a 30-minute TV show. Giving Rusty more time to carry out his research, for example, would be an improvement in tempo and veracity. That research time could partly be filled by having Cherry discussing her Kudzu Crusader problems or having Doc Davis drop in to say  “Howdy!” and grab a slice of pizza before retiring to whatever cell they keep him in. Rivera could even show Rusty going through his Internet searches to ferret out his evidence. After all, that kind of stuff worked well for the “CSI” TV franchise.
But speaking of pacing, we’ve spent enough time on this, so let’s move on to today’s nature post:

Rivera adds a Halloween theme to Mark’s discussion of the hybrid CoyWolf. The “dog” DNA of the Coywolf is hardly surprising, given the domestic dog’s wolf ancestry. My online reading (A-Z-animals.com), states that all wolves, coyotes, and dogs can interbreed because of their DNA similarities, and that such interbreeding has been going on for a long time. According to the site, a coywolf is a coyote with measurable amounts of wolf and dog DNA. Apparently, much of the interbreeding took place to 100 years ago and not so much these days. (For more details and how the term “coywolf” is a nickname for the eastern gray wolf, see: https://a-z-animals.com/blog/coywolf-coyote-wolf-mix-everything-you-need-to-know-about-this-hybrid/.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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After an exciting two weeks devoted to Rusty’s alien invasion hunt, we got to catch up on Cherry’s Kudzu Crusader hunt this past week. For those who don’t recall, Violet Cheshire found a bag of kudzu on her front step with an insulting note chiding her for not weeding it from her garden. It was signed “The Kudzu Crusader.” Violet, being suspicious and vindictive, accused Cherry of being the culprit. Cherry convinced her otherwise and the two of them began their search for the real perpetrator.

As they investigated more, Cherry and Violet discovered that the Kudzu Crusader had repeated the insulting-note-and-bag-of-kudzu action at every house in town where the noxious weed was growing. Noxious Honest Ernest—who happened to be in town—directed Cherry and Violet to talk with Squirrelly Sandy, a new citizen in town and owner of the local bakery. Turns out that more people in town have bought into the rumor that Cherry was behind this prank, but she convinced Sandy she was not the perp. The hunt has only just begun. But for now, it’s time once again for another nature chat.

So I make it a point to avoid most caves, closed or open. I’d make an exception for caves containing Paleolithic wall paintings, but I don’t live in France or Spain. Cheap jokes aside, I was not aware of this bat problem, so I am now better informed and educated. And that’s what can make Mark Trail Sunday pages valuable. Speaking of cheap jokes, I wish Rivera would ditch the final “joke” panel on Sundays and use it to provide additional information. By the way, I discovered that there are lots of YouTube videos devoted to building bat houses. Really! Who knew? I think there is a bat house in my yard’s future, because while I hate mosquitoes, they sure love me.

The Week in Review (“my blather”) and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Did you miss last week’s strips but don’t want to spend time scrolling down to read them (and my commentary)? Then here is a summary: It was a curious week with little action, more ambiguity, and several incredibly bad puns. Okay, maybe that was a bit too summary. Let me try again:

Mark and the boys continued their examination (from the previous week) of a clearing in the woods during their hike to find an alleged alien crash site. An obscure diagram scratched on the ground led one of this blog’s followers to suggest it might be a pagan pentagram, which would have been an interesting plot development. It turned out to be a diamond-shaped perimeter with an extinguished campfire. Still, why draw any diagram on the ground? With only an abandoned rubber horsehead (which Rusty claimed) and some “pink crystals” discovered by Ernie, the boys were undecided about the alien incursion. Mark was more concerned about the alleged fate of the mysterious campers who had abandoned this “failed campsite.” Instead of moving on to search some more, Mark decided the adventure was over (since he naturally assumed command of the hunt) and took the boys to eat pizza at Planet Pancake. There was pizza to be eaten, but Mark spent his time contemplating the fate of the campers. You’ll have to scroll down and read the actual dailies if you wish to experience Rivera’s puns.

As I noted yesterday, I’m drawn to conclude that Rivera presented this Rusty Adventure mainly for the purpose of launching another story for Mark, so it’s likely that Rusty and his friends will now disappear from the strip until needed in the future. We’ll have to wait and see; it’s possible that Rivera will first turn her attention back to Cherry this week, as she and Violet Cheshire prepare to search for the mysterious Kudzu Crusader. Anyway, since you’re here let’s see what Mark has for us today:

For the longest time I’ve encouraged people to not sweep away spiders because they tend to only hang out where there are other creatures you’ll like even less. And spiders consume them, as Mark describes.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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The age-old conspiracy theory of visitors from a distant planet surfaces in Rusty’s latest adventure. Online sources claimed that an extraterrestrial incursion and crash occurred somewhere in Lost Forest, though the specific crash location was not mentioned. Certainly, an unfortunate oversight by the excited poster, I’m sure. Yet, this omission didn’t matter to Rusty and his friends who still insisted on initiating an expedition to locate the wreckage. And really, who would not be tempted? This could be a fun mystery, even if it isn’t about the environment.

Mark bribed Rusty into letting him come along with the gang. Rusty’s main rival, Robbie, objected, but the other boys overruled him. So off they went, guided by Mark and his trustworthy pocket compass. But here, Mark failed to teach the kids that a compass—on its own—is not a “finder” but merely a “direction locator”, thereby spreading misinformation that could lead to possible problems for the boys in the future. A negative mark for woodsman Mark Trail!

By Wednesday’s strip, the actual hiking began with an abandoned horsehead mask found on the trail in Friday’s strip. It didn’t appear that the gang had hiked very far or very long. In any event, the Saturday strip had Rusty thinking that the alien crash story was fake and he was ready to go home. Yet Mark was not so easily defeated and thought that something funny was going on, which required more investigation. I think Mark has an idea this was a prank and who the prankster might be. Do you? While you ponder this, let’s get in some nature education:

Sharks can be social animals and have BFFs. Okay, that’s nice to know. They’re not always lone killers, lurking just under the surface for female surfers trying to catch a wave.  

Do sharks behave like us? Apparently so, but we sometimes use the term “shark” to refer to seedy characters (e.g., loan sharks) who take advantage of people, usually in dire straits. Or the term can refer to a member of a New York street gang that has a tendency to dance and sing in poor neighborhoods.

But I don’t get Mark’s final comment, other than as a bad pun.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Were you by chance too busy this week to keep up with Jules Rivera’s Mark Trail? Fear not, dear heart, for having taken on the mantle of daily observer, analyst, and reactor, I can—nay, I must—catch you up. Such is my obligation and pleasure.

This past week the strip turned its focus from Mark to Cherry. Working one day (as is all too common) in the garden of the Sunny Soleil Society, Violet Cheshire interrupted Cherry with a handful of kudzu vine and a written note of scorn. Apparently, somebody left that fragment of invasive weed on her home porch with the note blaming Violet for apparently sponsoring its growth in her home garden. It was signed with a comic book nickname: “The Kudzu Crusader.” Of course, Violet assumed Cherry fashioned this presentation as some kind of childish prank. But Cherry denied being either being the author or perpetrator of this action.

I would have thought that this story would move on from the initial interrogation and response. In fact, most of the week’s strips were wasted on repeating this question-and-denial routine, in slightly different revisions. It wasn’t as if the issue was difficult to understand.

Other than my observation that Violet—surprisingly—expressed no knowledge of kudzu, this story started to languish. By Friday, Violet was finally ready to believe Cherry might be innocent, and now came to think that Cherry was being framed. If somebody wanted to frame Cherry, wouldn’t they have signed her name to the note?  But even Cherry began to accept Violet’s illogical “frame Cherry” theory. In Saturday’s strip, Violet was overtaken with Sherlockian zeal, ready to go on the hunt with Cherry as her Watson and find the real Kudzu Crusader.

At last, the story’s excitement level rises to a measurable level! It would be a shame to interrupt the plot at this point and chuck its momentum in the freezer, just to get back to Mark’s ambiguous storyline.

Now it’s good to use more plastic!? As happened last week, Rivera is once again linking the Sunday topic to the current storyline(s), which is a good idea. And as usual, her customized title panel is spot on. Rivera ingeniously takes advantage of the lanternfly’s wing markings to pick out the strip’s name. I would only add that the spotted lanternfly was first observed on the eastern seaboard but seems to be moving westward.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Having some down time, Mark wanted to experience some warm, fuzzy family time, but Cherry had a gardening job and Rusty was setting off with his friends to investigate something mysterious in the forest. Mark really wanted more time with Rusty, so he chased him down, getting him to reveal that he and friends are going to inspect a possible “E.T.” sighting. Mark bribed Rusty with the use of his digital camera and a pizza lunch so that he could tag along.

The last time Mark tried to bond with Rusty was when he took him and his friends out on a borrowed boat at night to hunt for the “Bassigator” cryptid but grounded the boat on an island of unusually docile alligators. While Mark fretted, the kids loved it.

For those not in the know, kudzu really is a big problem. There are places, mostly in the south, where it looks like the land is just one big growth of kudzu, shaped like whatever it is growing over. You’re gonna need a hell of a lot of goats to control this stuff.

I thought it was interesting to see that Rivera, who usually likes to have a pun in the final panel, blew this one: “Goats are really the greatest of all time!” Of course Rivera was spelling out the acronym, but that’s like explaining a joke. If you have to spell it out, it isn’t a joke. She should have written “Goats are really the GOAT!” Just my opinion.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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This week blew by fast. Well, I had a bad cold for several days, so I might have misinterpreted the passage of time. But once the first breezes of fall start blowing, time just seems to take wing (yeah, I know the days get shorter, but don’t rain on my clichés). Mark held a week-long review with Cherry of what happened after his train adventure suddenly ended. I am overall fine with a more detailed look at consequences, since the pre-Rivera MT period tended to give them short shrift. What do you think? Speaking of things moving fast, it’s amazing how quickly these events resolved, unless it was due to the fact that Mark took four weeks to hike home from Columbus, Ohio. What happened?

  • Mark was officially cleared of wrongdoing by law enforcement.
  • Sally Scorpius is shacking up with Happy Trail down in Florida.
  • Law enforcement discovered Senator Small’s many years of bribes and corruption more quickly than any episode “Law & Order.”
  • It suddenly dawned on people that, those laws Senator Small pushed through the state senate were designed to undermine, overwork, and endanger train employees.
  • Somehow, Mark’s livestream rant caught the attention of the EPA, which is going to have the Duck Duck Goose transportation company pay for all of the cleanup costs.
  • Rex Scorpius is providing personal motivational therapy to “faux professor” Bee Sharp, who is very distraught over his face being used by DDG without his permission. It seems the idea of being the victim (instead of the perpetrator) of fraud was just too much for Sharp.
  • Mark came home with the wildebeest.
  • Mark and Cherry’s log cabin house seems to have shrunk (could be optical illusion).

Panel 1 is quite calligraphic, but I have no idea what the underlying figure is. Wait, I see. It’s the Leafy Sea Dragon shown later in the strip.  A bit of mixed and unsupported messaging: Why should we always reach for the stars? In fact, in panel 5, Mark argues against going into space in order to segue to the mysteries of terran life forms. Rivera makes a good point about the diversity of interesting life forms on Earth, at least. And looking at enlarged images of tiny creatures is sometimes like seeing extra-terrestrials.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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This week produced a relatively positive morality play in which Cherry helps one person that results in helping another. After a short phone conversation with Mark, who relayed the results of his Ohio fishing trip, Cherry’s day of reflecting on friend Georgia and the lost bees is interrupted by Violet Cheshire. She needed help removing hibiscus plants because they could cause an allergic reaction in the Sunny Soleil Society’s president. What to do with all of those flowers? Not a problem for Cherry who suddenly gets inspired to take them to Georgia’s place where they can attract bees to repopulate the empty bee hives. Voila! Like Rick and Capt. Renault in “Casablanca” walking off into the distance and talking about the start of a new friendship, Cherry and Georgia walked off into the distance talking about the start of something good for the bees. Okay, it’s not a perfect analogy, but it’s in a similar spirit of friendship. And it’s Bogart! Mentioning Humphrey Bogart in a post is always a great way to make your writing seem more thoughtful.

The well-drawn trail marker in today’s title panel is based on a long-recognized pun. Similar text was very likely the basis for the name of Ed Dodd’s hero. There is, for example, the “High Water Mark Trail” in the Ozarks. I always wondered if Mark’s name was based on some distinctive, functional purpose, like the “mark twain” phrase, being a boatman’s call for a specific water depth. But I don’t know.

In any event, today Rivera breaks her tradition a bit by posting a subject sharing nothing specifically relevant with either Mark’s or Cherry’s storylines or locations. No big deal. As usual, the wildlife is drawn in a more detailed and representational form (i.e., shading/volume), whereas Mark is shown in his standard flat, cartoonish style that rarely displays shading.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Still on vacation, but I had some down time to do the Sunday post. I may wait until Wednesday to post the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday strips.

To say this story went off the rails would be a fitting punishment. What began as a father-son fishing trip in Ohio got interrupted by a breakdown of Happy and Mark’s train (a portent of things to come). Then an explosion at a train station connected with the derailment of another train carrying toxic chemicals influenced Happy and Mark to investigate the incident. This led to reconnecting with Rex Scorpius and his mother, who happened to be living nearby. Mark’s aggressive questioning of a state senator at a press conference led to assumptions of a coverup, the senator’s call for Mark’s arrest, a fist fight with cops, and Mark and Happy’s escape. Whew!

They were spirited away by Rex and his mom with police in pursuit. Later discussions among the four at a remote location led Mark to come up with the goofy idea of livestreaming a report inside Rex’s car, speeding down a highway.  He predicted this scheme would somehow attract more listeners and help expose the chemical spill coverup and the senator’s corruption.

In fact, “Professor” Bee Sharp came online to spill the beans that the state senator was bribed by the Duck Duck Goose transportation company (that owned the train) to cover up any malfeasance. Sharp, who had been hired by DDG to be their official PR face, revealed to Mark that DDG bribed the senator with a wildebeest that he kept in his backyard. An absurd idea, especially if we take this story seriously, which we tend to do, despite Rivera’s tradition of writing goofy stories. This brings us to this past week.

Mark and company sped to the senator’s house. Surprisingly, the senator was also listening to Mark’s livestream report (how he knew this is never explained) and sent the cops to arrest him. The cops, the senator, and Mark all arrived at the house same time, of course. Mark told the police that the wildebeest was a bribe. So, on the say-so of Mark Trail (virtually unknown in Ohio) and the presence of a wildebeest on the senator’s property, the local police arrested their own state senator. Surprisingly, they did not arrest Mark, Happy, Rex, or his mother! Well, let’s take a rest and view today’s nature chat.

Okay, that’s a cute title panel. Today’s topic is not likely known by many people who are not into surfing, though Rivera, herself, is a surfer. Nevertheless, I found it interesting and informative. Well, I found several articles about aggressive sea otters and surfers, but none mentioned the algae connection. On the other hand, I found an informative page on “Environmental Health News” about sea otters and algae blooms. Turns out sea otters often envelope themselves in algae for various reasons, but infected algae are infecting and killing sea otters and sea lions. (https://www.ehn.org/algal-blooms-sea-otters-2651321061.html). But there was no link between the poisoning and the aggressive behavior noted. Still, Rivera may have access to better resources than I do. I do not even play a biologist on TV.