Skunks (Saved By the Sugarmaker)

This morning I saw THREE skunks on my run. And not the cute little fella from a month ago. These were big ass skunks. The first one was crossing the road ahead of me early on in my run, when it was still kind of dark. But no problem. I watched it slink off into the brambles and jogged past. On my way back, less than 1.5 miles from home, I was reveling in running under a bright orange canopy of maples on Darling Hill. I was thinking about how this could be the most beautiful spot on earth, right here, right now under these trees, and how great it felt to be running in the rain early in the morning. I was noticing how strong my legs felt and how clear and happy my brain felt. I was so caught up in my joy that I didn't notice the big, giant skunk crossing the road until it was almost too late. I stopped, waited for it to cross, and then noticed it's buddy coming out of the tall grass on the side of the road. And coming right towards me. And this guy was HUGE! Why was it coming towards me? What did it want? Instead of asking, I pivoted and ran as fast as I could in the other direction. I was too scared to even look back for a while. Finally, I stopped and noticed that the thing was no longer charging me. So I cautiously resumed my course, wondering how the f**ck I was going to get home. If I turned and went the other way, it would be about 7 miles instead of a little more than 1 mile. Which would be okay, except I promised Neil I'd be back in time to pack the kids lunches. I really didn't know what I was going to do so I just kind of stood there in the road for 5 or 10 minutes. Boy was I happy to see Dave, our local sugarmaker, coming down his driveway. I waved him down, told him about my predicament, and he slowly backed his truck up down the road while I walked along side. When we got to the spot where I thought the skunks might be, I practically jumped on the hood of his truck. I felt a little silly, but I've seen what happens to dogs when they get sprayed, and I know that it's more than just a bad smell; it's really painful. So after my sugarmaker's rescue, I went back to enjoying my run, but I stayed in the middle of the road and jumped at every little flash of white I saw. Thank god I left Rosie home today.