When the skunks come out to play

Lately I have been putting in crazy hours at the law firm.  It hasn't been so bad - the work is really interesting because of the cases I am on right now - but it means I get home later and later it seems.  Last night I walked in the door around 8:30 p.m. and told Paul that we should go for a walk.  After sitting for 12+ hours in front of a computer screen, I wasn't exactly in the mood to plop in front of the TV.  So we put on jackets and comfy shoes and went out on the trail.  We walked up to the casting ponds and the lake where we normally go.  There are always tons of geese there and Paul likes to hiss at them until they hiss back, then he jumps behind me for protection (maybe not entirely true, but close enough). 

Last night we didn't see the geese though.  Instead we found a family of SEVEN skunks foraging for food.  Some of them ambled side by side while others were frisky and playful with each other.  They were tiny little guys and so ridiculously cute with the big fluffy black and white tails that wag behind them as they waddled through the grass.  Only skunks are even more dangerous than geese when you are with Paul.  Because he would get as close to them as he could then raise his arms into the sky in order to look big until the skunks would turn their backs on him, surprisingly quickly, and raise their tails in warning.  Paul would hoot and holler and jump backwards, but not behind me this time because I kept my distance.  Fortunately none of the skunks ever carried through with the threat, otherwise Paul would have been sleeping outside for the next week.