by Laura Cadieu

Situations which we could never have imagined happen and the things we fear the most often never come true. But, when an imminent challenge shows up, we as a human race show how resilient we really are. Simply put, we adapt.
I am not going to focus on our current Coronavirus/ “self isolation” crisis but instead tell you a funny story which might just make you smile and lift your spirits.
I could not have made this up!!!
Every now and then I have a deep need to have a solo adventure in a hustling and bustling city. I usually prefer New York City, but this year I changed things up and rented an airbnb in Silver Lake, an urban area near Los Angeles.
Among the many things on my itinerary was to go see a concert in downtown L.A. Although they are trying to convert Los Angeles to viable downtown place to visit like New York City, Chicago or other big cities, I still think it has a long way to go! I had a degree of fear. I managed to avert any dangerous interactions and after the concert I summoned a driver to take me back to my airbnb.
My driver was coming onto me, the nerve of him. This made me feel quite uncomfortable, so I ended up telling him he would be dropping me off at home where my boyfriend of six years would be waiting. Who knows why I said six years, but I guess subconsciously that made my relationship sound serious enough for him to leave me alone?
Not, he still continued to ask me lots of personal questions. He was relentless, so I was relieved to get back temporary dwelling which felt like “Home Sweet Home”, if at least for the night.
By this time it was well after midnight, no one was around and I felt that tinge of fear again as I watched him drive off. But, not for the reason I had expected.
Never in a million years could I have dreamt up this scenario, but on the front porch were two feral cats and what sat between them, as if they were having a little midnight soiree, was a skunk.
My mind was racing with visions of being sprayed and smelling of an odorous and pungent smell. I remembered the time my dog Muffin had been sprayed when she had encountered a skunk, and no amount of tomato juice truly solved the problem until days later.
I rattled the gate and the skunk meandered to the other side of the porch. Whew; I was relieved until he proceeded to shuffle back again. He locked eyes with me as if to say this is my porch and you’re not coming over here.
As I stared into the sky to pray fro help, all I was asking was to walk less than ten feet, get passed the porch, open the front door and go to sleep. Instead, I had to stand at the gate and wait for “Pepe Le Pew” to get tired of this game and leave. Not wanting to spook him a lot, but just enough, I waited a few minutes and rattled the gate again which is when he scampered, albeit slowly, and went under the porch. Thank God.

I made my mad dash for the front door, frantically turned the key and once inside I breathed a big sigh of relief. Thankfully, we never formally met, if you know what I mean and then I chuckled. A freaking Skunk, really?
The next morning, I told my host Chris that I had run into a skunk last night. I said he was a very clean black and white little guy. He said, “Oh yeah, he comes around a lot and has befriended the cats, he is our neighborhood ‘Metro Skunksual.’”
So, it dawned on me how there is no point in fearing circumstances because we’ll never know exactly what will happen next and we must resist the urge to control things. When we encounter challenges our natural instincts kick in and we adpat.
It is human nature to solve a problem.
So, even in dire times as these with a Pandemic, we must have faith that we are being led to light into light.