I woke this morning earlier than usual. At 3:00 AM I stumbled to the bathroom, paying little attention on my journey. We have a small nightlight in the living room. It’s just bright enough to illuminate my path to the other end of the hour. And we’ve lived here long enough that I could probably navigate with my eyes closed.
I didn’t want to wake my wife, so I napped on the couch until it was time to wake for work. As I sat on the couch in a half-awake state, I thought I could make out a smell that I knew should not be in our house.
A few months ago, Stacy had woken me during the middle of the night to point out a skunk running in our yard. Its white stripe shining bright under the moonlight, I quickly turned back over and went to sleep.
But at 3:30 AM now, I felt a feeling of dread in my stomach. Did it get into the house? Did it get under the house? How much damage did it do? I knew I should have dealt with this earlier.
I walked around the house, smelling from room to room. It seemed stronger by our bedroom windows and weaker in the laundry room. When I opened the garage door to head to work, I could also smell it near my car.
I also knew that I couldn’t quite smell right. I’d been sick for the past few days, and my nose was stuffy. This has got to be a remnant from a dream that’s carried over to reality, I kept reassuring myself. This can’t be real and inside the house.
When I got to work, I waited for a text from my wife. I was counting down until a frantic morning text, knowing that she would instantly smell it when she woke. Her first text, however, wasn’t about the smell. I began feeling relieved, but then I knew I had to ask. Before long, she had confirmed what I thought was true: the house did smell.
No one prepares you for this when you go to buy a house. And now I sit and wait to hear back from a critter control company, hoping we can find a peaceful and long lasting solution.
I just stumbled upon this behind-the-scenes clip of Saturday Night Live's cue card process. This is intense writing. This is writing that is dependent upon trust and checks and balances. Over a short period of time, skits are written, drafted on cards, revised, and the cards revised over and over again. I also really love that SNL continues to use cue cards and not a teleprompter. Like Wally points out, technology can fail. Handwritten cue cards ensure the show goes on. Comedy is hard work. Writing is hard work. Changes are made up until the last minute to get things just right. This is a form of real-world writing.