Last night as my husband and I were getting out of the hot tub our Black Lab decided she was going to corner a skunk in the back yard.  There are many odors in the world that can cause me to gag but, until last night, usually the smell of a skunk after it has thrown its scent is not one of them.  A freshly sprayed dog that has gotten up close and personal with a skunk is an entirely different story!
Reality (the Lab) ran up to the porch with her mouth frothing.  Luckily I had stowed away some Massengil Douche for just this occasion (seriously, Massengil or part peroxide/backing soda/dishwashing liquid works like a champ).  By the time we got through pouring four bottles on Reality, we couldn’t tell if the awful smell was from the skunk odor or from the Douche!!
After washing her well, and for the sake of a good night’s sleep, we put her in the kitchen.  What was amazing to watch was the total glee coursing through our dog’s body and the shine in her eyes. She was quite pleased with herself. There would have been a time in my life that this kind of thing happening at the end of the day would have just confirmed for me that life pretty much sucked and here was the proof!  This time; however, I was able to see the humor in the situation thinking back to my husband and I in our birthday suits, running after our frothing dog with plastic bottles of douche to pour on her.  We also lit enough candles in our bedroom (to mask the odor of Pepe Le Peux wafting through our windows) to cause the smoke alarm in the hallway to think about going off.
I’m so grateful that I’m learning more and more how to look for another perspective in what ever event comes into my life.  I’m sure Monsieur Skunk is quite pleased with himself as well for accomplishing his mission (foiling the enemy) and escaping with nary a scratch. I suppose the moral of this story could be that the “Reality” of a situation is not always as it seems?!