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It was almost 11:30 pm when I pulled into my driveway tonight, after watching the Survivor finale with the family. It’s a good thing I didn’t do what I usually do, and accelerate around the bend in the drive. The creature huddled in the middle of the drive directly in front of me began moving away, slowly at first and then a little faster.
Whatever it was, I didn’t want to run over it. It looked a little like a cat and moved exactly like a cat, but the coloring gave it away. Black and white. I was following a skunk down my driveway. And giving it plenty of personal space.
You can believe when I tell you that I moved very slowly. If the skunk was in no particular hurry, then neither was I. The skunk obviously had the upper hand, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do when it ran directly at the garage door and stopped right in front of it. What I didn’t do was activate the electronic door opener. A skunk inside the garage wasn’t what I needed.
I waited a few seconds, and then the skunk made a right turn and moved, at its own pace, into the field between the garage and the road. I waited a few more seconds to be sure it wasn’t coming back before opening the door and driving inside. I checked the area again when I got out of the car, to be sure there was no sign the animal was close by.
And I was grateful that it had made a right turn instead of a left turn into my yard and garden. I’m very happy to have it headed into parts unknown, and may it have a safe and pleasant (and long) journey. | 
