Summer Vacation
This summer, I has the opportunity to live in Fort Smith, Montana, a town with a population of 90. I was working in one of the local fly shops that outfitted for the nearby Big Horn River. The Big Horn, for those of you who don't know, is one of the best rivers for fly fishing in the West. My Dad has been going up there for years (I haven't been going quite as long as he has) and so we knew the people who own the shop very well.
I lived in a small trailer (that was also as old as my Dad) that I rented from a fishing guide. This was my first real job and my first time being away from home at first I was pretty homesick. Once I adjusted to my surroundings, I found that I was surrounded by some of the nicest people I've ever met and that my job was one that suited me. I made some great friends, including a fishing guide and his wife, as well as the son of one of the owners. Plus, on my days off, I could go fish the Big Horn. My Dad did come up quite often (he used me as an excuse to go fishing), so I wasn't completely cut off from home.
Unfortunately, the last night I was there, a fire started and burned down the shop and one of its buildings with hotel rooms. Three of the guests died. My Dad, who was there to help me move, woke me up at 2 in the morning, having heard honking and sirens, and we went down to the shop to watch it burn. There was nothing anybody could do at that point (the people died fairly quickly as the fire was so large) and I felt in shock for several days after I came home.
The fire is still real to me, but I remember other, better things more than that. I have been offered a job for next summer (they are already rebuilding) and I am strongly considering taking it.
Well, that's my summer vacation. Now it's back to school.
I lived in a small trailer (that was also as old as my Dad) that I rented from a fishing guide. This was my first real job and my first time being away from home at first I was pretty homesick. Once I adjusted to my surroundings, I found that I was surrounded by some of the nicest people I've ever met and that my job was one that suited me. I made some great friends, including a fishing guide and his wife, as well as the son of one of the owners. Plus, on my days off, I could go fish the Big Horn. My Dad did come up quite often (he used me as an excuse to go fishing), so I wasn't completely cut off from home.
Unfortunately, the last night I was there, a fire started and burned down the shop and one of its buildings with hotel rooms. Three of the guests died. My Dad, who was there to help me move, woke me up at 2 in the morning, having heard honking and sirens, and we went down to the shop to watch it burn. There was nothing anybody could do at that point (the people died fairly quickly as the fire was so large) and I felt in shock for several days after I came home.
The fire is still real to me, but I remember other, better things more than that. I have been offered a job for next summer (they are already rebuilding) and I am strongly considering taking it.
Well, that's my summer vacation. Now it's back to school.
posted by read at
3:02 PM
1 Comments:
Wow, that's quite a story. Could be a possible subject to write on when we get to our College Essay.
I love Montana, too. After graduating from the U of M in Missoula with a graduate degree, I taught for a year on the Front...in Fairfield...not as small as Ft. Smith, but I was the only English teacher in the High School and the graduating class was only twelve!
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Lary Kleeman, at 9:56 AM
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