Sometimes Life just Smells

Did you know people keep skunks as pets? Yes, it is legal in 17 states to have skunks as pets. WHY!? Why would anyone consider keeping a skunk as a pet!? I have no idea. I currently have a 110 pound Alaskan Skunkamute. He stuck his nose in a skunk’s butt and got sprayed. How do I know? Because his front half smells and his back half doesn’t. He’s also been labelled an over-aggressive sniffer. He failed group activity at the doggie daycare. They said he was more suited for individual one on one activities because he gets a little over exuberant with the butt sniffing and it makes the smaller dogs nervous. Monday at about 4:18 am he went outside and came in skunked.

Day 3, four baths and he still smells. My house smells. I keep asking people when I am out and about if they can smell skunk. It’s all I can smell. Skunk, skunk and more skunk. He doesn’t understand why no one is hugging on him. Bless his Mally Monster heart. I’ve tried all the remedies I could find. Skunk smell lives on. It’s bad.

The smell has taken over my life the last few days. I ordered a new bike and went on a hike, but I can hardly write about those as I sit here with skunk odor all around. It doesn’t dissipate very easily. Yesterday at Pilot Mountain, I sat to eat my lunch and I thought I could smell skunk on my lunchbox. Sniff, sniff…….faint smell of skunk.

Most of the bikes I want will not be available until next year. One of the Trek bikes I thought was cool isn’t available until June of 2022. Insane! I tried finding road bikes in my size at a variety of shops, none. They had very few and those that were left, were too big or too small. I test rode a few of them in sizes that were too small or too big. The one I finally ordered is a Specialized that I was able to do a little ride on– a medium, but I need a small. They have a small coming in this week, but it is sold. They offered to let me test it out before the owner picked it up. After coming to the realization I probably wouldn’t get a road bike until next year, I checked the Specialized website one more time. Yesterday it showed ONE small in stock. I called Paul’s Bike Shop and they ordered it for me PRONTO. It will arrive next week! I figure I can always sell it next year if, for some reason, I decide the unattainable Bianchi I want comes in. As an example, the local dealer for Bianchi has ONE coming in — and not even close to the one I want. Hard pass. The Specialized will be a great road bike.

After I ate my lunch, Marty met me and we went for a 7 mile hike on a trail we had never hiked on before. It was fun! I breathed in all the fresh air I was able before coming back to the skunk polluted air at my home! One day, when I have more time (read: don’t have to make it home for a conference call) I want to hike out to see the Eagle’s Nest at Pilot Mountain. There are so many beautiful things to see in my home state of North Carolina. I am blessed to live so close to the mountains (Blue Ridge Mountains, Smoky Mountains) and to the ocean. Life is good and I try my best to make the most of each and every moment God gives to me.