Another Day, Another Time

Here it is a new day and I am not too thrilled with it, but then, I guess we take them as they come and are to be thankful for each one we are blessed with.

I checked outside on the progression of my tulips to find the plants are now eaten down to the nub. Hope springs eternal but I know when to give up the ghost and get on to other things. I wonder if I could plant skunk cabbage and have it grow safely? Speaking of which, I happen to like the smell of skunk cabbage. I always have and don't get what it is that makes people hate it so much. Just looking at the way it grows is a real mystery. All the swirls and tightly formed leaves. I have an aunt who swore her ex hubby smelled like skunk. I always loved him and his smell so who's to say what is pleasant for one and repugnant to another.

We have a family of skunks living right outside our garage every year and when we go outside, we have to make darn sure the black and white kitty on our back porch is just that, a kitty! My son has been fooled before and answered for it. LOL, I'm so glad I didn't have to bathe him down with tomato juice. He's old enough to take care of himself and it was his own fault. But the air was rife with the smell of newly sprayed skunk for some time afterward and my second son was afraid his tent would be a total loss, but it wasn't effected except for some residual scent.

My poor cat is a house cat. She had the misfortune of jumping down off the chair and hissing at the cat on the porch. Wham, right between the eyes! I had to clean her twice in a bucket of water with peroxide, Dawn dishwashing liquid and baking soda, being very careful to keep it out of her eyes. There I was in the dark, a little past midnight, stripped down to my bra and panties. A big bucket full of solution on the picnic table where the light shone dimly and with a cloth in one hand and the poor cat in the other. I had no takers to help me through the process. I carefully dunked the cat in the bucket getting her soaked and scrubbed her good, dunking her back in the water to make sure she was truly saturated. Next the trick of holding her up to wash her face, being careful not to get the solution in her eyes or ears. To make matters worse, I had to do this twice to get all the smell out. Usually my cat fights me if I put her near water, but the poor thing was willing to go through water torture to be back to normal. I only suffered bad scratches on my arms from her back claws since she is declawed on the front paws. As I said, you have to be very careful when using this solution not to get it in your pet's eyes. I used a wash cloth and a LOT of patience since I was elected to do the dirty job once I opened my mouth to say I liked the smell of skunk. I meant far away and just slightly scenting the air! Not a power house shot that made my cat's eyes run without quitting and kept me gagging. I'm just thankful no wiseguy was around the corner taking pictures of me. I can only imagine what I must have looked like!

My cat's plight drew us much closer. After toweling her dry and hugging her to let her know she'd be alright, she promptly went in and jumped on my bed. Now I didn't have the heart to drag her off my nice quilt and besides, she smelled nice and clean by then. I certainly couldn't detect any odor on her and the others didn't want to get close enough to try. Guess who the cat always sleeps with now. She still hasn't learned not to jump at animals when the screen door is open. I guess her memory is very short, somewhat like mine nowadays. I guess it's only a matter of time before it happens again...