Only in Maine

Maine has pine trees, marriage equality, medical marijuana, a lot of hiking trails, people who work outside, moose, and many, many skunks. I have only lived here five years and I have had to bathe a dog who got squirted in the face, AND had a skunk spray so close to two different houses that the whole place smelled (for two or three days) exactly as though we'd piled a bushel of rotten heads of garlic inside an old truck tire on the kitchen floor and set fire to the whole thing.

So one gets a whiff a skunk in enclosed places sometimes. Skunks freak out if they get stuck in a garage, under a back deck, if you encounter them while hunting moose or hiking a trail or going out to your pickup truck in the parking lot at the kerosene delivery place. We all try to wash the scent off an expensive or useful coat or pair of boots, and sometimes it didn't quite work. The oily odor permeates everything, so even if the skunk did its thing in your garage, it's likely your flannel shirts in the bedroom closet smell like they were sprayed with Eau de Pepe LePew.

So I got on the bus today and got whammed with a strong skunky aroma and tried not to look around to see who the offender was. It's been me in the past; I know how it is when you go inside somewhere and people sniff and wrinkle their noses.

Then I realized what I was smelling was skunk. . .weed. The bus to my house is also the bus to the community college.