I love nature!!!

After dinner tonight I decided to give my mom a call, since we hadn't talked in a couple of weeks. So I took the cordless phone outside into the back yard to enjoy the evening while I was on the phone. It was so cool and quiet out, and I was sitting out on the bench in the middle of the yard, with the sound of the brook down the hill and the crickets chirping... so idyllic.

Then I heard a sound behind me, and I turned around, thinking it was one of the many neighborhood cats. Um, no. It was a skunk, a big old black and white skunk, six feet away from me. I could see its white stripe glowing in the dark.

My poor mom. I freaked out on the phone, whispering frantically, "Mom, mom, there's a skunk six feet away from me! What do I do?" Of course, my first inclination was to get up and bolt for the house, but I figured the skunk was faster than me, and it was in between me and the house, anyway. Besides, you're probably not supposed to make unexpected movements, right?

Luckily, the skunk seemed as shocked as I was. After a few seconds it backed away carefully, then turned and slinked off to the neighbors' yard. I jumped up and ran into the house. Close call.

Just call me nature girl.