Sometime, late in the evening on Friday last, King Louie made the unfortunate acquaintance of a skunk. Again. So he had to be bathed in the middle of the night. Again. This is now 5 times in 12 years. You think that he’d have figured it out by now. If not from the trauma of the spray, then the indignity of the bath that has to happen in the aftermath. In the middle of the night. But no; he is undeterred. He will be the one who finally bridges the rift between skunks and the Kingdom of Dogswald.  Doggie can’t help himself, he sees is as his Canine Destiny, or something. He wants to make the benevolent acquaintance of every creature, bird, critter, and hooman he comes across. Alas. Some of them aren’t as enthusiastic, like the sad little skunk on Friday late. The worst part is that it happened right up next to my house, so my mudroom still smells, 4 days later. Despite spending the evening (and next morning) wiping down the vapour barrier and painted brick walls and furniture and spraying the floor with Skunk-away, it lingers. Booo.

I put a dish of un-steeped coffee grounds out there for when the door is closed at night, It seems to be helping. But the aftermath of the encounter is still there. Some things aren’t easy to un-do.

I have a houseplant that I nurtured from a little two leaf thing to a quite big plant. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve taken it to the brink of death a few times. Lately, my plants leaves have been drooping, so I figured that I missed it in the weekly watering. So I watered it some more. And some more. Then, I stuck my finger over the rim of the planter and felt standing water. Like an inch above the dirt. Oops. I managed to slowly, slowly nurture that plant back to decent health. It’s giant now – with new shoots from both the base and new leaves from the top.

During Lent, may I be aware of the places in my life that need something other than what I’m providing. This Lent, may I recognize when my good intentions are causing inadvertent harm, and may I have the knowledge and ability to heal any damage I’ve caused.

Extra Credit:

I’ve created landing pages for the last 2 years of Lent Project. You can access them from the Reflections Projects option in the menu bar. Happy reading, friends!