Acts of Kindness

My friend has always brought a lot to our friendship. She has always lent a sympathetic ear to our many discussions and always provides thoughtful insights. I dearly love my friend. However, she has some of the most interesting interactions with animals. Her dog would always run away during our phone conversations or be barking to tell her that the cat was outside the door, probably up to no good. Most of these have left me laughing until I cried.

Today, as we were talking about what needed to be done that day, she started to tell me that her day started unusually. I am thinking being stuck in traffic or a problem with her car. No, not the usual reasons for a hectic morning.

My friend was leaving for the gym this morning to work out before work and heard a sound outside. She was pretty sure it was an animal, probably one of the many raccoons that occupy our urban settings. It wasn't a raccoon, it was a skunk-with its head stuck in a jam jar. She put on gloves and went outside to see if she could help. She pulled on the jam jar and the skunk pulled the opposite way. The jam jar was not coming off.

She ran into the house and upstairs and woke her husband. He got up put his clothes on and came outside to survey the situation. He tried pulling off the jar with the same result. He went to the garage and got a block of wood and a hammer. He placed the wood over the jam jar and struck it with a hammer. The jar broke and the skunk ran off into the bushes. At no time did the skunk raise its tail in fear and even when it was free the tail remained down.

All I can think of is how fortunate the little skunk was to make its way to my friend's house. And that she took the time to help free it from its prison. As always she helped to solve a problem, but I will tell you all the time she was telling the story I was laughing.