This is the week that was…wet. As in water parks. As in what looks like a second week with Cherry. On its own, it’s a bit unusual. But this week is not on her dime, is it? Or maybe it is. I mean, this is supposedly the story of Mark’s informal investigation of water pollution in a local swimming lake. Yet, we have had two weeks of Cherry and Rusty at the water park! (Oh, the trivia I get into. Do I even have a life?)

I think what we have is Jules Rivera “shaking up” her usual time allotments (2+ wks for Mark versus 1 wk for Cherry). So this week was really Cherry’s story slip-sliding into Mark’s. For those who came in late: The prize peacock belonging to Violet Cheshire’s mother (never “mom”!) escaped from the Sunny Soleil Society, leading to Cherry and Honest Ernest having to find it in time for a big-deal summer party. While Rusty was looking for more water slides, Honest Ernest phoned Cherry for help. Cherry had the day off, but since she’s been something of a nonentity the past several weeks, she relented and agreed to help Ernest, especially as she and Rusty spotted the peacock running around the resort.

Ernest arrived at the park. As the two conversed, the peacock suddenly ambushed Ernest by jumping on his head. Ernest was so upset that the peacock was able to escape once again. Meanwhile, Rusty had returned, shivering from the cold water of his latest slide. For reasons unknown to me, Cherry was getting very flustered and phoned Mark to make sure he was okay. I reckon all of the stress—from Rusty going on dodgy slides to getting herself talked into helping Ernest on her day off—was taking its toll. So she clearly needed a steady head and support.

Yet, talking to Mark, Cherry expressed the hope that her day was going better than Marks, thus contradicting the very reason she called (as far as I could tell)! In an attempt to downplay his own developing situation, Mark casually mentioned an alligator on the course interrupting play.

Such is the summary for the week. At least there was some action!

Andy finally made an appearance, if only for a brief cameo. I reckon that the cane toad is yet another case study of good intentions gone awry. Their eggs are laid in long jellied strips, housing up to 25,000 eggs. But only about 0.5% reach adulthood. I read the cane frog’s article in Wikipedia (the source of information for all of us half-baked experts!). The science backs up Mark’s warning about what happens to dogs that lick or bite cane toads. It’s yet another reason to avoid moving to Florida.

But it isn’t just animals that can get poisoned. Some humans have died, apparently thinking they were consuming a normal toad! <Bleh!> Best read the article for the other interesting tidbits. Well, go on…hop to it!