ink, ank, unk
are TOUGH spelling patterns
particularly for my oldest
so to help ease the frustration
and make at least one pattern
more memorable
I shared a REAL LIFE story
to help connect ‘text to self”
The title: “unk as is SKUNK”
this is one of those stories…
that I couldn’t make up
you’d just have to live it…..and we did.
Once upon a time
years ago
pre-herd (translation: pre children)
Cowboy Dan & I planned a weekend couples retreat
with sister banker and her hub’s
trail riding and camping in the mountains
Ahhh
the guys left midday on a Friday
sister and I traveled up after work
It was just past dusk
on a dark, unfamiliar dirt road
when sister and I recognized the headlights headed towards us
simultaneously turning towards each other baffled
the truck pulled beside us
Cowboy Dan and sister’s hub glaring at us
speechless
like deer in the headlights
When we asked, “What are y’all doing??”
and with just a hint of excitement
(because remember my love’s emotional range is pretty even-Steven)
he said “Y’all aren’t going to believe this?!”
“WHAT?!” we shouted!
when they began…
Cowboy Dan and sister’s hub
talking over one another
“So we’d camp set up. Had the horses tied. A fire going and were ready to start cooking when we noticed it..”
“WHAT?!” we shouted!!!
“a skunk.”
they went on..
“It came out of the edge of the woods kind of stumbling about…bumping into the trailer..gnawing at the tire or whatever it stumbled upon. It startled the horses so we ran it out of camp with sticks. Then, just as we begin to settle in…it came back!..stumbling about bumping into things when we realized something wasn’t right..a skunk would come into camp..”
sister and I stunned…
speechless
as they went on
“.. the horses were upset…snorting, stomping, blowing…when it hit us…maybe it’s got rabies??..So I (Cowboy Dan) got the horses and I (sister’s hub) got a stick and I killed it!”
“YOU WHAT?!!!” WE SHOUTED
sister’s hub replied “I killed it. I killed it with a stick and we threw it in the woods.”
Sister and I didn’t know what to say
What would YOU have said?
When Cowboy Dan spoke up and said
“You know what??..If it had rabies we need to know.”
The horses had gotten skinned up during the ruckus and he wasn’t sure if the skunk had bitten the horses or if they had injured themselves in the madness.
“We’ve got to go back.”
“GO BACK?! FOR WHAT??” WE SHOUTED!
“the skunk. we need to get the skunk and have it tested for rabies.”
He said “Y’all head on back home. We’ll be there after while..”
and with that
Cowboy Dan turned the truck around
He and sister’s hub were headed back to camp to retrieve the dead skunk.
Sister and I still baffled
began to laugh
HYSTERICALLY
What else was there to do??
When we got back to my house
we waited what seemed like hours!
When finally
the familiar headlights
when the truck stopped
I didn’t have to ask where it was
I smelt it
and then I asked
“what now??”
Cowboy Dan’s reply “we’ve got to put in in the freezer.”
“THE FREEZER!!!?? OUR FREEZER??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!! WITH OUR FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!?????????”
“Yep. Vet’s out of town and he needs to send it off to have it tested. He said we need to freeze it until Monday.”
and with that
he unloaded the dead skunk, wrapped in a feed sack AND a garbage bag and headed to our freezer
we were told to burn anything that touched the skunk
so we started a campfire in our driveway
in the rain
laughing until way after midnight
and just when we thought the FUN was over
sister’s hub
noticed a cut on his knuckle
when someone asked, “did any of the skunk’s yuck get in your cut?!”
NOBODY PANIC.
it must not have because “Uncle” is still with us today
strong as ever
the skunk DID test POSITIVE for rabies
Vet said we couldn’t sell the horses for a year
had to keep them under watch
they’re fine too
still pasture ornaments today
we never made that trip back to the mountains
something to look forward to
and that
is the
happily ever after to
“unk as in skunk”