Transitions

Two nights ago I dreamt that in multiple scenes there were young skunks frozen in motion. I was confused and uncertain if they were dead, or iced over. There were no signs of frost or freeze. No "logical" reason for them to be frozen.

This morning I was driving home and saw this beautiful being lying motionless. It didn't click in yet, that I had the dream. I swung around and found a place to safely park, and go to the skunk. When I arrived she was still warm but was definitely dead.

I asked if I could take her to another location to be honored. With a clear yes. I carefully (because we all know the aromatics of skunk perfume) secured the skunk and made my way home. When I arrived there, it became rather evident this wasn't the best place for her.

I was meeting my friend to do a beach clean up and asked her if she would be willing to honor the young skunk with me. I went around my yard and home and gathered items that were willing to be a part of the ceremony.

We scouted a place that felt welcoming in holding the skunk's body as it returned to the Earth. We circled her in prayers, love, tears, and honoring. Thanking the skunk for all of the many ways she supports an ecosystem.

As we were discussing the lessons we were feeling arise from within. I remembered the dream. The feeling of helplessness and confusion I felt at seeing their lifelessness. Somehow these two things connect. I may never know exactly how, but I feel it. I feel the connections and the importance of being willing to do what I can, when I am able.

This young being was making her way somewhere, for something, and had an abrupt ending. I feel some sense of youthfulness being disrupted. The places that arise within me as a mother who is watching her eldest child cross over the threshold from child to young adult. There are many roads awaiting him. I wish to see him make his way without meeting obstacles or misfortune.

The tenderness of holding the lifeless body of this being. Reminds me how precious youth is. That life is a gift and we never know when our journey will end here. I am not trying to be morose but to share the ways these encounters touch my heart. Where they lead my thoughts and awareness. How there is a connection even if it seems obscure.

My friend had shared a lovely story of the relationship she once had with a skunk named Cooper. I said that maybe Cooper was there to greet this young one who is a part of his kin.