I thought the object was to catch and hold on to the peacock, not push it away. Excuse my ignorance, but what is the tree branch for? Does Cherry think the bird will suddenly jump on it, like a squirrel!? My other question is, where is the cage or sack that Honest Ernest should have had with him after capturing the peafowl? And what is Honest Ernest supposed to do while Cherry goes off in search of that tree branch? It’s not as if she can just lean down and pick one up; she’s at a golf resort, for goodness sake!

As for Rusty, looks like he took the scaredy-cat slide that goes directly into the water, rather than the other slide, reserved for those carrying catastrophic health insurance. I reckon Rusty now knows why it is a Penguin Pool.

Art Dept. Panel 1 is actually a well-designed layout in terms of the figures and the use of available panel space. A strong diagonal alignment reinforces the panicky actions of both figures. The peacock, itself, is rather striking, even while lacking very much definition. But not bad for the size of a comic strip panel.

Being Saturday, it appears that Jules Rivera is trying to tie up several loose ends before Monday. Does that mean we will flip back to the the golf game or do we continue this convoluted sideline?

Cherry can complain all she wants, but nobody forced her to answer the phone. Meanwhile, Rusty has been restricted to a kid-safe pool, though he is having a good time, anyway.

Looks like the timelines of Mark’s and Cherry’s adventures are, indeed, synchronous after all. This had been an earlier concern of mine when Happy showed up at the cabin (July 14) and started this golf trip subplot. Do you recall the peacock we saw on the golf course in the July 26 strip? With his appearance again today, it suggests that the golfing resort is, as surmised, close to the Sunny Soleil Society HQ. “So what,” you ask? Well, that is one question that stymies most media critics when put to them about their writing. But I have an answer for today, at least: “So I was right!”

But where does Rivera go from here? Cherry has the day off, so it’s doubtful she will dump Rusty off on Mark and head back to the Society. She could just call Honest Ernest back, report the peacock sighting, and let him deal with it. That would give her more time to complain to the pool staff.