Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Slice of Life: A broken air-conditioner or an unwelcome encounter?

Every Tuesday, the writing community of Two Writing Teachers hosts Slice of Life. All are welcome to participate by linking up posts or commenting on other participants. 


Up until about 6 on Saturday night, I felt guilty. Guilty that I wasn't flying to Michigan to help move Larkin to Denver. Guilty that I was at the beach with another daughter and her delightful friends. Guilty that the weather was perfect in Rhode Island as opposed to muggy and hot across the middle of the country. The most recent snapchat from my husband and Garth had them driving through Nebraska with the windows open and their hair whipping around. Somewhere between Des Moines and Omaha, the air conditioning had broken. Seventeen hours is a long time in the car in the best of circumstances. Without air-conditioning, it sounded really miserable. I felt really guilty. 

"Let's take the dogs for a quick walk before we make dinner," my sister-in-law, Amy, said. The dogs were thrilled. The girls were all playing games in the back yard, and the rest of our crew had plenty of chores to keep them occupied. Amy and I are fast in the kitchen. We could take the dogs for a walk and still serve up dinner before anyone showed signs of being hangry. 

We headed toward our favorite trail, a place where we could unclip the labs and let them run. Within seconds of Okie's freedom, he bolted into the bushes and then bolted out of the bushes. Reeking. Words I didn't know I knew spiraled out of my mouth as the sour skunk smell invaded the walk. Okie dashed to the open grass, rolling and rubbing. 

Amy made dinner on her own as I bathed Okie over and over with various concoctions of baking soda, vinegar, palmolive, and Nature's Secret Skunk Formula. 

As I write this slice, the air conditioner is fixed, and Okie has had a professional deoderizing at Petco. (One was much more expensive than the other.) I'm no longer feeling guilty--just excited to keep hearing about Larkin's latest adventures in her next chapter of life. 

Happy Slicing!


23 comments:

  1. Oh, no! You set this up so nicely. Poor Okie! Poor you! I'm sorry your serene time was invaded by a skunk! On another note, it's so hard to be pulled in different directions, isn't it? Good luck to your Larkin!

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  2. Nice use of the twists and turns (and poor doggie) for a slice.
    Kevin

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  3. AS they say, we all have our s*&%t. My sister recently had a similar problem with her dog in Texas. I think skunks live everywhere. I like how you wrote this slice, drew me right in and I was there with you. I hope you have more fun adventures in store this summer.

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  4. Skunk, ewwwww! And if it's any comfort to you, this week in Colorado is cool and rainy. The high is supposed to be in the 70's today, so they will be ok without air conditioning.

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    Replies
    1. P.S. I have a great mechanic if Larkin needs one.

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    2. Carol, you are the best! Thank you so much. They found a Honda dealership and got the ac taken care of. I will let her know, and I'll encourage her to be in touch! Thank you!!!

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  5. I love the way you led us through these moments. Mama guilt is strong, even with adult children. Hard to say who had the harder work in this~

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  6. I, too, am excited to see what the future has in store for Larkin!

    As for Okie, I'm delighted he smells fresh again. I can't even imagine! (I'll bet he was still adorable.)

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  7. Oh..skunk is bad!! I am the queen of guilt --not sure it is productive in any way for any one. Glad all is well and can't wait to hear about Larkin's adventures.

    Clare

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  8. I love how you told this, juxtaposing their trials with the one you and Okie ended up facing.
    Skunks and broken Acs - both stink!

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  9. karma? LOL. Sounds like everyone had an adventure and came out unscathed on the other side. Here’s to more summer adventures.

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