I read an article the other day about the Town of Highlands that I absolutely Loved. Yes, loved with a capital L.

It was called: “The Upstate New York Town Officially Ranked the Safest in the State that Almost Nobody Talks About” and it was by a writer named Sophia Harlow on the website takingthekids.com. It was in response to a niche.com safety rating – the Town of Highlands got an A+. It called this town “Orange County’s best kept secret” and went on to use phrases in the lengthy summary of the town such as:

- A river view that genuinely stops a conversation mid-sentence.
- Autumn is the headline season.
- Nothing feels manufactured for tourists.

- Community bulletin boards actually get read.
- Seasonal events pull the town together.
- What lingers after a visit is the ordinary friendliness.
- More than 150 years of steady operation shows in small ways.

Aren’t those perfectly appropriate? I Love (again with a capital L) that she captured our local feel!

Now, just for reference, a search of our other local towns and villages on the same website came up with a B+ for Highland Falls, an A for Cornwall-on-Hudson, an A for Cornwall, a B+ for Salisbury Mills, and a B+ for New Windsor. Newburgh got a C+, Monroe got an A-, Woodbury got an A- and Washingtonville got a B+. Absolutely none of those are bad grades, so I think it’s safe to say that we are pretty lucky to live where we do!

Now, you might have noticed in my headline above, I mentioned skunks. Here’s why. This is a two-part story.

Last weekend I left our lovely communities for a quick trip to my parents’ house in West Virginia with all three of my kids and both grandkids. It was heaven. Except … for the moment early Saturday morning when my two grandsons and I burst out of the house in search of their soccer balls and promptly came face-to-face with a skunk. It sprayed. We were close enough that we immediately stunk. Not thinking, I turned us all around and we ran back in the house, inadvertently sharing that delightful smell with everyone else … and the whole first floor of the house. We showered, washed clothes, sprayed scented things, etc. etc. We moved on, although we could still smell that little beast’s scent the rest of the visit.

The next morning, at 6 a.m., I got a text from my husband, who had stayed home with our dogs. That day was my birthday, so I figured it was just my first ‘Happy Birthday’ of the day. Nope. He was reporting that, 300 miles away, in Highland Falls, one of our dogs had just been skunked in our backyard. Ugh. He did all the things, but just like at my mom’s house, it still smells.

If you saw me this past week – pardon me, if you smelled me – please know that I’m doing my best to recover from this double-blast of thiols (aka, skunk spray)!