I surprised a skunk this morning when I was beginning my run.

I was just stepping onto the road from our gravel driveway when I heard a “tskkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk” sound off to my right….and when I turned that direction, I saw his rear end in the dim moonlight….fluffed out and ready for action.

I mean that he/she (and I’m sure that it was one or the other….the skunk had gender, just not one that I could decipher in the moonlight) was ready to spray me if necessary.

I was about 10 feet away.

Because I was startled that early in the morning, I yelled, “WHOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAA”….and when I turned around from my short panic run, the skunk was gone.

Remember when people would say to you….when/if you were talking about something scary…..”he’s as afraid of you as you are of him”.

What kind of crappy advice is that?

Things can be pretty afraid of you and still do some major damage before they scurry or slither off.

A bear could maul the heck out of you before he went crashing back through the woods….screaming in terror.

A rattler might bite you as some sort of weird reflex action…..and no matter how much he apologized and explained that you’d “just startled him”, you’re still BIT.

Things bite….and no amount of “I’M SORRY!! I DIDN’T MEAN IT!! I DON’T KNOW WHAT CAME OVER ME!! I GUESS I WAS JUST SCARED!!” will make the mauling go away.

So the thought that something is scared…..JUST LIKE ME….is small comfort when the chips are really down and I’m out in the world scaring things, too.

I don’t bite….but I’ve done some major screw ups when I was afraid.

Reflex action doesn’t always work so well for me.

Soooooooo…..I don’t know about that comforting phrase, “They’re as afraid of you as you are of them”.

Who amongst us doesn’t do some damage before we run away?

That skunk could’ve stunk me up this morning.

“funk you up” The Sequence