A Tricky Situation

This wild chase ends in foul play

There are days when you wonder if you can even tell your story and do it justice. I was getting ready to go out the door at 7:45 a.m. for work. Before leaving, I made the puppy run so she’d sleep while I was gone. When I opened the door, the older, wiser dog led her out and quickly spotted a very large deer in the garden. As you might have guessed, both dogs chased the animal into the woods behind my house, disappearing into the brush while I desperately called and yelled for them to come back. The puppy, never having been in the back woods, disappeared from my sight. I decided to toss my kid the keys to the truck and hopped on the quad to go looking for the dogs.

Many bumpy, lumpy hills and gullies later, I found myself on the neighbours far fence line, facing a skunk who had obviously just let loose on my dogs, but whom I could still not see. The animal soon walked towards me with great intent. I sat deathly still on the quad mouthing “no, no, no,” to the little skunk, who then decided it was time to release more fun— on to me! I was helpless as he sprayed me with his putrid, awful, mustard skunk gas.

From Bad to Worse

Nearly blind, I drove home on the quad only to find out that my kids let the dogs in the house without knowing what had just happened. Everything, and I mean everything, now smelled like skunk.

I threw the dog in the tub with tomato soup, soap, anything else I could find. I then tried to clean myself and opened every window in the house. After the ordeal, I left the dog with my other kid and went to work. I instantly got funny looks, wrinkled noses, and so I quickly walked right back out and drove back home to shower and change again. I rushed back to work, now only slightly late.

I had started that day with a smile on my face. I hid my consternation and frustration at the whole situation, and yet I was laughing maniacally at how ridiculous the whole thing was!

I loved my coworkers for being so gracious beneath their wrinkled noses and stifled laughter. I returned home after work and put my dog in the tub again, aired out the house and put things out in the sun to detoxify—hoping for a better start to the following day. ▪