The Nose Knows

It was a little after 2:00 AM Tuesday.  I stepped out the door to go to work.  It was snowing.  My car was covered with a light coating.  I'd been out the previous afternoon.  Add a warm car to cold snow, and you have a layer of ice beneath the fluffy white.  Brush off the snow, then scrape away the layer of ice beneath.

My job Tuesday was to produce Newswatch 16, from 7:00 to 9:00 AM on WNEP2, and Newswatch 16 at Noon.  I'd done those broadcasts many times before, but, as Tony Kornheiser would say, I was out of my "comfort grid."  Those shows aren't my own.  Luckily, there's plenty of help available.  Still, I really wasn't looking forward to the day ahead.

Then, something happened that changed my outlook.  It was in the air.  I was just a couple of miles away from home when I smelled it.  Could it be?  Yes.  It's unmistakeable.  A skunk!  I didn't see the little black and white critter.  I didn't have to.

To heck with Punxsutawney Phil and robins.  Skunks are the true sign of spring.  It is the time of year when they get really hungry.  They become more active.  It's also the time of year skunks go looking for love.  I breathed it in deep.  I basked in the stench.  I rejoiced in the pungent aroma.

Even on a dark, cold and snowy morning.  Even on a day when you'd like to be doing something else.  There is always a sign of hope.