Adventures in Polecat Hollow

There is a saying in Polecat Hollow: "You can lead a skunk to the extraction facility, but you can't make him stink." I am not sure what that means, but it rings true. Uncle Hinky says that a man is what a man is, what he will be whatever that pretty little girls wants him to be until the preachers says, "husband and wife." "You can lead a man to the altar and after that, he may start to stink." You see, I'm not sure what that means either. Miss Prudence has never been married. Nor does she fancy herself an expert on men or skunks, but she does have her own version of the saying. "The altar doesn't alter the alter-ego." This is really getting to be a bit much for me. Folks in my town just say whatever they want to say and don't spend a lot of time worrying about what anyone thinks about it or whether or not it makes any sense. Eventually, something makes sense and it gains in popularity, repeated until no one remembers the meaning

It is very cold in Polecat Hollow right now, the coldest May since as far back as Uncle Hinkey can remember. It is so cold that the skunks are all at least an hour late for extractions every morning. That's cold!