Black & White Friends

This morning, as I was enjoying my 20 minutes of reflection on the patio, I heard a jingle and rustle and opened my eyes. Hootsie was jumping down from under rosebush...no, wait, that's not Hootsie. The white stripe is on the top! But, oh, it IS Hootsie! About three feet behind the skunk looking just on the verge of giving chase. Which, on the current trajectory, would send the skunk straight at me. Gulp. "Uh...Hoots...take it easy there, bud!" Some god or goddess made my whisper penetrate his brain and he let the skunk amble across the patio a couple feet away from me, following behind but not actually chasing. I grabbed him (Hoots) when he go within reach and I think he may actually have been relieved that he could blame me for the fact that he wasn't ridding our territory of the invader.