A Smelly New Year

 We had three snows late November and first half of December.  We had over twelve inches total.  I was able to pull Jack and Logan on a sled with the UTV on one nice day.  Then the week before Christmas it warmed up, the snow melted, and the ground thawed.  It felt like spring had come early.  But we have already had as much snow as some of our recent past winter totals.

I've always tried to keep a cat or two in the cold storage part of my largest machine shed.  I keep a small food dish and a heated water bowl for them.  They can come and go, but I like having them around to keep the mice and birds out.  I hadn't seen the cat for awhile, but the food kept disappearing.  I had my suspicions, so I checked in several times a day.  One day my suspicions were confirmed.  I stepped into the shed and an opossum scurried away from the cat food.  I put the food into my live trap and checked back the next morning.  To my surprise, there was a skunk in the trap!  It was not happy to be there!  I moved slowly and picked up the trap from the closed door side so it couldn't see my and carefully walked it outside and set it in the snow.  I retrieved my rifle and dispatched the skunk and left it there for the next day.  I did not see or realize that the skunk had sprayed, but he must have because my boots started smelling of skunk.  I left them in the garage, and the smell started seeping into the house.  The old farmers wife came home and as soon as she opened the garage door the odor hit her!  I took the boots out to the shed and scrubbed them daily with a disinfectant solution.  They still have a hint of skunk, but it fades with time.  I do believe I will be able to keep them and wear them again. 

Christmas Eve we had our traditional oyster stew supper for my Mom and Aunt Pearline.  Any other family that didn't have plans were welcome.  Christmas day was laid back, and then the next two days we had our kids and grandkids.  It was a crowded, busy, noisy, and joyful time.  We had lots of food, gifts, games, a Christmas pageant, and general family fun.  One afternoon we all drove down to Firefly woods to explore the progress of the new house.  There were a few muddy, dirty kids when we got back. We had two more Christmas gatherings in early January. 

My oldest male cousin Boyd passed away just before Christmas.  He was 91.  He was a doctor who spent most of his career doing diabetes research and was on the faculty at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.  As recent as last year, he flew by himself to Japan to give a talk at a conference on diabetes.  We drove up to Chicago for the visitation on the Sunday after Christmas.  We drove all the way up in wind and rain, and all the way home in high winds and cold.  It was not easy traveling.  We were able to spend some time visiting with his family while we were there, so we were thankful to be there.  In the last six months, we saw and visited with Boyd three times.  We rarely have seen him that often.  When Boyd was attending medical school in Iowa, he would often drive to Central Illinois and spend the weekend with us. I was very young at the time, but he would help dad on the farm.

Fast forward a number of years, and Boyd and Lois were married, and had small children. Our families went camping together.  One evening while singing hymns around the campfire, out of the darkness came a skunk!  He wandered around our group and the fire.  We all just stayed still and kept singing and eventually he wandered away back into the darkness. 

Two skunk stories in one blog post!

I came across this poem shortly after the funeral.  Author unknown.

 

What Then?

 

When the plants of our mighty cities
Have turned out their last finished work;
When our merchants have sold their last yardage
And have dismissed the last tired clerk,
When our banks have raked in their last dollar
And paid out their last dividend;
When the Judge of the earth says, “Closed for the night.”
And asks for a balance – what then?

When the choir has sung its last anthem,
the preacher has made his last prayer,
When the people have heard their last sermon
and the sound has died out on the air;
When the Bible lies closed on the altar,
And the pews are all empty of men,
And each one stands facing his record –
And the Great Book is opened – what then?

 

When the actors have played their last drama,
And the mimic has made his last pun;
When the film has flashed its last picture,
And the scoreboard displayed its last run,
When the crowds seeking pleasure have vanished
And gone out in the darkness again –
When the Trumpet of the Ages has sounded,
And we stand up before Him – what then?

 

When the bugle’s call sinks into silence,
And the long-marching columns stand still;
When the captain has given his last orders,
And they’ve captured the last fort and hill,
And the flag has been hauled in from the masthead,
And the wounded afield have checked in,
And a world that rejected its Savior,
Is asked for a reason – what then?

 

“Therefore be ye also ready:
for in such an hour as ye think not
the Son of man cometh.” [Matthew 24:44]