It is high time for a little personal tale and a good one too, so here it goes.........
This past weekend, my husband,
our dog Cinnamon, and I took a little trip four hours south to
the family farm. My parents bought a thirty acre farm on the edge of my hometown a few years ago. I now refer to it as the family farm even though we are not farmers of any kind. My parents really just wanted a serene place in the country to retire. With a few fields, a barn, and a couple of ponds, it is a really beautiful place for them to live and for us to visit.
My dog, Cinnamon, especially likes the family farm. She's as Irish Setter with a lot of energy and a nose for hunting (even though she would not hurt a fly). Normally she is able to roam with supervision through the fields, but this weekend there was a little damper on her frolicking fun.
When we arrive at my parents on a Friday evening, we usually spend an hour or so chatting and catching up. During this visit, my parents told us about a skunk that had dropped by a few times over the last couple of weeks. My mom has a stray cat that she's taken in, and apparently the skunk likes to feast on the cat's food by the front porch. Just after dark, my parents had seen the skunk come around to eat. Apparently it isn't afraid of much of anything and takes its time browsing around the porch and front yard. The cat is smart enough to avoid it, but our poor dog Cinnamon was not.
We went to bed on Friday night with that skunk on my mind. I knew that we would need to keep Cinnamon on a leash at dusk and after dark when skunk likes to roam. As usual, Cinnamon woke my husband and I up about 6:30 a.m. to go outside to the bathroom.
My husband usually has morning duty so he finally roused himself to take her out. I briefly thought about the skunk, but I was too tired and sleepy to open my mouth and remind him to watch out for it - after all, what are the chances of an encounter? Apparently, the chances were very, very high!
As my husband describes it, he took Cinnamon out the front door off leash to do her business. She headed straight for the shed which is a hundred yards or so from the porch of the house. My husband Stephen could see a small critter in the distance that she was trying to chase after. This wasn't unusual because Cinnamon likes to chase everything from my mom's cat to the squirrels to the birds. She never counted on the fact that a skunk has no understanding of being chased, and the skunk is what she was headed for this time. It did not run as she expected, but rather it stood its ground. She had the courage or stupidity to bite the side of its butt, and well, you know the rest.....the skunk sprayed her directly in the mouth - yes, the mouth!
We actually feel very blessed that the skunk did not get its nasty smelling spray all over her coat nor did it spray a lot. It just squirted a little directly into her mouth because she had lightly bitten it on the butt. Then the skunk must have took pitty on her because it scurried off into the field. Cinnamon was shaken to say the least. She choked a little and spat a lot trying to clear the stench from her mouth. Afterward, we wiped her down and gave her a lot of breath mint dog biscuits. It was really just her mouth and head that stank terribly. A few days later now, she is doing much better. The smell is almost gone, and I don't think that she'll be on the chase for skunks anytime soon - lesson learned, hopefully!
The skunk certainly won this weekend, but Cinnamon is resilient and ever curious. In honor of the stealthy skunk, I have posted some photos of what I found when searching
Etsy for
handmade skunk items. Skunks certainly are cute when you don't have to smell them.
I seldom post photos of myself, but since I am six months pregnant, I thought some of you might like to see a couple of photos. My husband, the dog, and I went to my parent's farm this past weekend. We really love it there. It is so peaceful! After church on Sunday, we took a few photos. I thought since I was all dressed up, I might as well capture a couple of photos looking my best. Unfortunately, I also look and feel gynormous! I've had quite a bit of swelling as you can see in my legs and face. It seems like I'm a little puffy all over right now. Today I have my 26th week check-up so it is not much longer - just a few more months! Yay!
