Emotional Support Skunk: Use Your Words

 

Today’s post is a monthly writing challenge. If you’re new here, this is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once. All of the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s  participating knows who got their words and in what direction the recipient will take them. Until now.

At the end of this post you’ll find links to the other blogs featuring this challenge. Check them all out, see what words they got and how they used them.
I'm using:  school ~ latitude ~ happily ~ framed ~ skunk ~ old news
They were submitted by Jenniy of Climaxed.
 

 I'm thinking of getting a pet skunk.  

 

He can be my emotional support animal. 

 

Let me explain.

Before I do though, let me just say that we lived next door to a family who had a myriad of animals, including a skunk. It was descented, so yes, that's possible, but in my case that would be counterproductive so mine won't be. The logistics of where and how to house and feed him, and most importantly how to train him when to use his odoriferous weapon is something I'll have to work through. Preferable, you know, before I bring him home.

I suppose a little background information is needed here as well. It's old news, on this blog anyway, how frustrated I am with the poorly run vaccination sign up system is in this state. A few weeks ago I wrote a post about it. It was originally called Just Shoot Me. Please, but since it published the day after the Boulder King Sooper mass shooting, I renamed it Vaccination Information Stagnation. Framed in the context of over 500,000 deaths nationally, you'd think there'd be some national strategy but it's not happening. My son in Boulder got his appointment before I could get mine. He was allowed to go to another county where here we are limited to our own. Counties around mine opened up to all adults before mine had even gotten to 60 years old and above. It's a mess.

 

And, of course, I'm frustrated that politicians who don't believe in the science and even deny that there is a pandemic were first to get their vaccinations. Same with the people in rural areas around here who are so mired in ignorance they're refusing to get their vaccinations, impacting the efficacy for all of us. I would have happily taken their turn (even driven an hour to do it like my son was able to do in Colorado) but here I'd been restricted from doing so. 

 

Even here, where we should be safe in our own neighborhoods, the people living on both sides of me do not wear masks, do not social distance, in fact, they've met in the middle to have face to face conversations. The middle being my driveway. {{grrrr}}.

During all of this, school has been going on here. Pretty much all along. The elementary school is right around the corner from my house. I used to take such joy from hearing recess, now it fills me with dread, so many kids out running around and screaming and playing together. If you ask me, the school system has way too much latitude in a life threatening pandemic. And I often wonder what these parents are thinking. My boys know that if they were still in school, I would not let them go back.

 

{{sigh}} So . . . skunk . . .

 

What happened just yesterday is not at all unusual, in fact it's been surprisingly common. I was in the kitchen minding my own business trying out a new recipe idea (S'Mores Pancakes, btw, yum), when school was letting out.

S'mores Pancakes

 

Since I live so close to the school, kids walk by my house on the way to and from class. Parents often walk with their students, and in the afternoon will park on our street and walk up to the school to retrieve their students for the drive home. Yesterday, and as I said, not for the first time, all the way in the kitchen (in the back of the house) I could hear noise. I walked to the front windows, open because it was nice out, and there on my driveway was . . . well . . . a party.

Parents and grandparents who'd come to pick up students, kids of all ages including in strollers, had stopped to visit on their way to or from the school. There had to be close to twenty of them, most not wearing masks, none social distancing. Some of the older kids were dribbling a basketball up and down the driveway and a few were playing tag on my front lawn. I even saw one kid spit something out of his mouth.

 

I actually just finally got my second vaccination 2 days ago, but obviously the medication has not reached full efficacy yet.

 

So in the meantime, I'm thinking pet skunk. 

Here are links to all the other Use Your Words posts:

On the Border 

Wandering Web Designer 

Climaxed 

Part-time Working Hockey Mom 

What TF Sarah 

 

 

S'mores Pancakes        

                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1/4 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 TBSP butter, melted

1/2 cup mini marshmallows

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

 

2 1/2 TBSP butter for pan frying, divided

 

Directions:

*In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
*Add the buttermilk, egg, and 2 TBSP melted butter to the bowl and mix, just until incorporated. Fold in the mini marshmallows and mini chocolate chips.
*Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add 1/2 TBSP butter and swirl the pan so the butter covers the entire bottom of the skillet. Scoop about a heaping 1/3 cup pancake batter into the pan. Move the batter around to form about a 6 inch circle.

*Once the top of the pancake starts to bubble and the bottom has browned, flip over and cook until the other side has browned. 

*Repeat with the remaining butter and batter. If the bottoms start to get too brown too fast, you may need to lower the heat to medium low.