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September 1, 2004
Mr. Stink
This morning on my run I had a little excitement. That excitement happened to be in the form of a skunk.
I wasn't very far into my 75 minutes when I looked up and there, in the middle of the road, looking mischievous, stood a big skunk. Now I've never actually seen a skunk in person, other than the one at the zoo, so I was a little bewildered. It didn't help much that I wasn't quite awake yet and probably not processing information as quickly as usual. I stopped dead in my tracks, we looked at each other for a little, and then I did the only thing that I could possibly think to do. I turned around and sprinted the other way. All I could envision was my boss hysterically laughing when I called to say I wouldn't be in for work because I stunk too bad. (later after some thought I decided it wouldn't be such a bad thing to have been sprayed and not be able to go to work, regardless of the laughing!). After a few strides, I turned around to see where the little bugger was. He was nowhere to be found. I kind of felt stupid then, like I let him get the best of me and he would have been scared of me if I kept charging at him. My co-workers made me feel better by telling me I had made the right choice in turning around though. They assured me if he had felt threatened he would have sprayed me. These are the same co-workers that decided it was a raccoon that growled at me on a previous run. Such wildlife-savvy people I work with!
Now keep in mind I live in a very urban area. O and I live off of a relatively major highway. I'm not sure where these critters come from. Wherever he came from though, I hope Mr. Stink finds a new home because I start almost every run where he was hanging out this morning and I would like to keep our contact to a minimum.
After my skunk encounter, the rest of my run was relatively uneventful. I did 75 minutes or about 10 miles by myself. I felt pretty good and the weather was great (in the low 50s and NOT humid!). My hamstrings have been a little sore/tight but otherwise I can't complain. I'm so excited it's now September and we are getting closer to fall every day (can you tell what my favorite season is?)!
Posted by beth at September 1, 2004 6:23 PM
Comments
Here's hoping that Mr. Stink doesn't visit you again. Long ago, I had decided that I hated skunks, they're stinky, you know? Then one night I saw a little herd/gaggle/group of baby skunks and their mama. They were all so cute and tiny that I decided I couldn't hate them anymore. Meghan
Posted by: Meghan at September 1, 2004 9:40 PM
This article http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/9568576.htm - about a guy who hasn't missed a day of running in 26 years - had a piece that reminded me of you...
"He has never been overly concerned about the hazards of the road - reckless drivers, barking dogs or even stepping on a snake on some dark, lonely footpath.
'But I do worry about skunks,' he said, laughing."
Posted by: Alison at September 3, 2004 11:35 AM