"Martian Water Story" The NASA Pathfinder mission to Mars has captured the imagination of the entire world. The first important Mars discovery was announced soon after the landing. It seems that Mars once had water. Not just a little water, mind you, but enough water to constitute a flood of epic proportions. Upon hearing this news, our two Great Danes just rolled their eyes, exchanged knowing glances, and went back to sleep. As the transmission of new data accumulates, scientists at NASA are getting very excited. Last week they announced the impending introduction of Sojourner Rover to Scooby Doo. Hearing this particular announcement, our two Danes again rolled their eyes. One yawned loudly, the other belched, and both went back to their snooze. "What an odd reaction," I thought. So I asked Merlin and Jabber why they are treating the Mars Mission like yesterday's leftovers. "Huh? Well, it's all just so silly! These NASA people think they are making history, but most dogs know better. Rover and Scooby Doo met up on Mars ages ago!" They went on to explain. According to the ancient canine legend, two powerful dogs, Rover and Scooby Doo, awoke one morning to find themselves on a newly formed red planet called Mars. How they got there, and why they were sent, remains a mystery. Some dogs are convinced that the Great Omnipotent Dog was responsible; others say it's just a woofer of a story. At any rate, what they DID on Mars affected the history of the red planet. After Rover and Scooby Doo found themselves on Mars, they were genuinely puzzled. What were they supposed to do? Well, this was certainly new territory. Very new territory, where no dog had been before. They shut their eyes, raised their heads, and sniffed. Then Rover and Scooby Doo looked around. They spotted a very large rock. (Way back then, Martian rocks did not have names.) Being proper dogs, both of them ran over to the rock. Immediately, Mars had it's first water. Mars also had other rocks. Lots of them. Soon Mars had more water. And more and more. Thus the Martian flood. Poor Rover and Scooby Doo were washed away. (((Such is the stuff legends are made of. Do you suppose we ought to let them know about this over at NASA? Merlin and Jabber say we should just let dead dogs lie.)))