The skunk hunters
Tonight I walked instead of biked; I took my kids skunk hunting.
By hunting, I mean looking for skunks. I see them all the time on my adventures, but for some reason whenever I take my kids out (neither of them have ever seen a skunk) I miss them. Tonight was no exception.
I even went to the usual haunts. The scrubby field by the expressway ramps, the paths along the factories, the bushes and fences they run along, snuffling and searching for whatever it is skunks eat.
Nothing.
My kids think I’m making it all up.
When I go on a long walk, sometimes I pretend that I stepped through a wormhole and instantaneously appeared in another city, another state, another country, or even another world. Did you ever do that? Consciously try to will your familiarity with a place away and try to see it with brand new eyes? Once in a while I can pull it off, and I find myself talking to myself in my head, narrating my fantasy like a bad science fiction novel.
“Where am I? How did I get here? What’s going on?”
“How is this possible? Something has gone terribly, terribly wrong!”
Et cetera.
My younger son said something hilarious though; he must have read it in a cheesy book or a bad video game. He said, and I quote:
“It’s quiet. Too quiet.”
What a strange night.
My daughter on hearing classical music to move the 'soul', and having a tear well up...
"I'm happy, but my eyes aren't....!"
Shame you never found any skunks... they probably keep themselves to themselves now, because they've developed a healthy and cautious attitude towards humans....
We could learn a lot from skunks.....
I remember the first time we made the walk, we just up and did it without thinking about the distance. Once we got downtown, I remember how vividly the surroundings seemed surreal. You drive by these places on a regular basis, but when you get there in person, it's an incredible perspective shift. There was nothing new to see, but everything was new to see.
I love that feeling. When you slow down to the speed of a walk, run, or bikeride, you see so much more in your usual surroundings.