Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the
faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.—1 Peter 5:8-9
I fumbled for my house keys in the dark, as I stepped over my tomato
plants, which were spilling onto the sidewalk. Why didn’t someone leave the light on? I thought, as I made my way
onto the back deck. Suddenly, a flash of black and white caught my eye. I turned to my side and faced a furry creature with its
fluffy tail lifted in my direction. My
breath caught in my throat. Oh, no! One wrong move and I’ll
be doused with eau de skunk! My heart
beat harder than Ringo Starr, and my fingers shook like Elvis as I struggled to
unlock the door to escape the perilous situation. The door flung open and I
flew in, slamming it hard behind me. Whew,
that was close!
But that wasn’t the end of our escapades with the skunk. The
next evening my son-in-law Ricky experienced his own close call with the
nighttime visitor on the deck. And the following night we saw him again. As our
car pulled into the driveway, the headlights illuminated the deck, revealing
our caller scavenging from the cat food dish.
Ricky blew the horn, while Emma and I protested, fearing the retaliation
of our frightened guest. To our surprise, the scavenger scampered off the deck
right down into the crawlspace opening. Now what?
