AHHHHHH SKUNK!!! Mmmmmm, skunk.
Sometimes you need to stop and smell the skunk.
The smell itself is pretty foul. It’s supposed to be. But it can be one of those smells that you enjoy because it reminds you of something. Smell is one the strongest senses related to memory, after all.
Lately, every time im driving and all of a sudden get a whiff of skunk, I’ve been breathing it in nice and deep-like, and, oddly, appreciating it. I leave my windows down and take in the not-so-fresh fresh-air.
For, me it brings back some childhood memories. Most of them being of summer nights, since skunks are by nature nocturnal and are not around in the colder months. No real specific memories come to mind, just a blur of those simple, carefree nights during summer vacation, before college and before jobs. When I literally had nothing to do, nothing to be responsible for, and nothing to worry about. Waking up at noon, watching tv and playing video games ’til whenever, eating dinner, shoot some hoops, and looking for something to do at night. Come home, eat a bowl of ice cream and fall asleep to the tv in bed, then wake up in the middle of the night and watch some MTV. Those types of completely unproductive days. 3 months of that right now would be fantastic. What else is in this blur of skunk smelling memories? Hmm, maybe just getting back in town from a vacation with the family and pulling into our driveway, driving around with friends during high school after the movies or the mall, or bike rides with my brother. Mostly, though, it just reminds of good ol’ fashioned summertime.
So the next time you smell skunk, take a deep breath and see what memories surface for you. Good? Bad? Perhaps it reminds you of being sprayed by a skunk. In which case, go ahead and roll your windows up.
Anthony Jot 
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