My dad used to love to spin a yarn as they say,and as he got older he loved to tell them, as if to say, this is what I did while I was here on earth. I’m not sure if he was aware of that but it seems to me like that was the case. I did not fault him for that and as I got older I would listen more intently and try to remember them all . Of course I didn’t but I tried. My mother would say now Louis you just told him that story the other day or last week and I’d say that’s alright I want to hear it again. There was the Mule Story, Bubble Bee Story,The Duck Story and so forth. But I think the one I loved to hear the most was the Skunk Story. He was born at a time when money was hard to come by; there were ten children and he was one of the youngest. Some times;( I think the fall of the year) he and some of his brothers, some uncles, and maybe friends, would gather up some gunny sacks and take off at night into the woods and fields. They took some hounds along and they were trained to go after skunks. Skunk hides believe it or not were worth money and he said he thought they were used for some ladies fur collars and such. When the hounds would surround a skunk it would dance around with it’s tail sticking strait up in the air ready to fire it’s amunition at any dog that got to close. The dogs would not do this, so the stand off lasted long enough for someone to run into the circle of dogs and men and grab the tail of the skunk and lift him off the ground. Now everything would go alright as long as you didn’t let the skunk touch anything with his front paws. Then with help from the other men you dropped him into the sack and close it. While the skunk was in the sack he would not spray his foul smelling fluid. My dad was very good at this and he was a very brave lad.
Of course one night it all went wrong and the skunk got some revenge right into my dads eyes. He said it felt like two red hot coals burning in his head. Men and dogs scattered; dad was blind and the skunk was mad. Little Louis was running around trying to find some relief. Some of the dogs was suffering too and they would run along rubbing their eye’s in the grass that was heavy with dew. Someone said “do like the dogs and rub your eyes in the dew”. He said it was a miracle the pain subsided and he slowly started getting his site back…. I don’t know if that was the end of a promising career, or if he was just more careful next time. I rather think he was just more careful; my dad didn’t back off from anything….one night we were enjoying the evening on our deck, I said whew smell that skunk?; let’s go in the house. he said Ahhh it ain’t so bad I kinda like it….