Stinkin' to High Heaven

When I was six years old, I remember riding around in the family car singing a song entitled, "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road."  It was a very simple folk music song with the singer, Loudon Wainwright III, singing along with banjo accompaniment.  It was a funny song about a skunk that got flattened on the road by a station wagon, and now it was baking in the summer sun stinking to high heaven.  The song probably wasn't funny from the deceased skunk's perspective. 

We could relate.  We had a station wagon, there was always road-kill on the road, and we enjoyed singing.  My younger brother and sister and I belted out, "You light up my life," by Debby Boone, and "Rhinestone Cowboy," by Glenn Campbell with such gusto and emotion.  We thought we were troubadours or crooners, maybe.  Our singing careers never panned out as our talents weren't discovered or appreciated by agents.

Here are the lyrics to the song.  You can mash the button below and hear the dead skunk song if you wish.

Crossin' the highway late last night

He shoulda looked left and he shoulda looked right

He didn't see the station wagon car

The skunk got squashed and there you are

You got your

Dead skunk in the middle of the road

Dead skunk in the middle of the road

Dead skunk in the middle of the road

Stinkin' to high heaven

Last week I asked Milk Maid Tricia, the queen of the Manor, if she had observed any pecans on the ground.  When she answered in the negative, I told her I would go out and check.  I grabbed the spotlight and walked out to the pecan trees.  Pecans!  All over the ground.  Good!  We hadn't had pecans in a couple of years.  As I moved the spotlight around, my eye caught something!  A skunk.  It was only 10 feet away from me and its tail was up.

I ran inside and got my .22 rifle and quickly got back out there.  Tricia pleaded with me to not get sprayed.  When I got back out there, the skunk was still there.  If you look closely below, you can see it with its tail raised.

Pepe LePew scurried into a pipe.  I spotlighted him, took aim and fired.  Unfortunately, the gun went "click."  I ejected the bullet, reloaded, and tried again with the same result.  I ran back inside to assess the issue and found that the gun needed some adjustments.  With those made, I went back out there, but the skunk was gone.  Almost every night since, we've seen him (or her) out in the yard.  Trouble!

Two nights later, Tricia walked out on the front porch and found the skunk occupying the steps with her.  She came back inside with the quickness.  Like Jed Clampett hunting for vittles, I scurried out on the front porch with my rifle.  The skunk, tail raised, ran into the flower beds for cover.  I shot but was in such close quarters, I didn't want to risk getting sprayed confirming a kill.  The next day we searched, but could not find a carcass.  Perhaps he drug himself off and is stinkin' the high heaven.