Our first group encounter with a skunk

The skunks in our neighborhood have, for 10 years, sprayed anything and everything with complete abandon. They walk down the street spraying cars and houses. They don’t posture first, they don’t appear to have limited reserves, and they are clearly seeking revenge against the entirety of the animate and inanimate world. Luke was sprayed far too often, and we got used to washing him down in all sorts of weather.

So I was unhappy when, on our walk tonight, Dobbie and Lisa and I suddenly came upon a skunk in the grass right next to the sidewalk where we were walking, less than a foot away. Unhappy may not be quite the right word. More like enveloped in a sudden overwhelming sense of doom and despair and terror.

We ran away. And thankfully the skunk did not spray any of us. That’s how it should work, though it’s not how it has worked around here. I’m not sure Dobbie got a good sense of what I was so scared of, but if she decides that skunks are appropriate to run away from, it may save us many unpleasant nights in the future. But I wish I didn’t still feel so unsafe.