The Uproar: Part Two

When I came downstairs, our dog Nikki started dancing eagerly. It was about 6:00 a.m. and she had been whining at the door for the past 15 minutes. She needed to go outside, but nobody wanted to get up and let her out.

“Wanna go outside? Okay, come on.” I took hold of her collar and unlocked the kitchen door. We stepped into the attached shed and I closed the kitchen door behind me, but not enough to latch. We made our way to the outside door and stepped out into the cool, early spring air.

We kept Nikki on a chain attached to a pulley and long cable run. As I turned right and searched for it in the early morning darkness, something moved ahead of us. Nikki suddenly tensed up and I knew something was happening. Life comes at you awfully fast sometimes.

Just ahead of us, a skunk stood frozen with its tail up, staring at us with alarm. I was just about to turn around when Nikki lunged with her powerful husky strength. Things turned slow motion for the next 20 seconds.

Nikki weighed as much as me when I was 12…somewhere around 80lbs. When she lunged, the only thing that reacted was my grip on her collar, everything else was flung forward like a ragdoll and I went tumbling forward onto the ground. Now I was three feet from a very frantic skunk, trying to corral Nikki who was bucking like a bronco trying to get at the skunk.

Everything slowed way down…laying on my stomach and with all my strength, I pulled back as hard as I could to get Nikki away from what was inevitably coming. It worked. She was jerked backward but I was now exposed. I watched in horror as the skunk jumped into a handstand, aimed its “defensive equipment” at me, and blew a greenish cloud of noxious goo at my face, scoring a direct bullseye on my eyes from a couple feet away. Then the skunk laughed (I think) and ran off somewhere, mission accomplished.

Maybe you’ve dealt with skunks before. Maybe you’ve had a dog sprayed, or been sprayed yourself and are familiar with that stinking mess. But I’m willing to bet that nobody here has been sprayed directly in the eyes by a skunk from mere feet away.

Friends, you never know what today will bring. Stay vigilant, be discerning, and walk close with the Lord today.

To be continued and concluded…buckle up!