I sipped a cola which I carefully placed on the floor as to not spill it on the keyboard during my short break from the intensified work of making computer chips. I logged into my account started some programs
and typed “22306” and pressed “Enter”, the desktop computer began searching, at the same instant the entire factory making computer chips stopped. A custom designed complex polymorphic multiprocessor failed. The computer network went down except for a few isolated computers. Every connected Entity producing computer chips had stopped. A growing intensity of people began running about, radio chatter, and notifications over the office paging system. I heard from my team telling me they had things under control and would finish running out the production in our area manually. Telling me not to come into the factory as all the tool sets were down. Billions of dollars of computer chips were at risk, it became a madhouse of activity as technicians, engineers, and top managers ran about. There was so much pandemonium, I was unsure what had happened, along with others I went outside, within minutes military helicopters were flying overhead with heat imagery and sensors.......................

After the “rescue” had been completed we drove back up to the visitor center to check the field of flowers. The weather had turned quickly, I stood for a few moments in the cold air, as it began to snow, big heavy flakes of wet snow, falling quietly upon the wildflowers. Summer had ended ; soon the snowfalls would reach downwards into valleys and recesses. In a few days most areas of the park would be closed, in a week or so the main gates would close. It was time to return to Helena, Montana, fall semester would begin in a few short weeks.

Arriving back at the bunk house after a long exhaustive day, I was given some sign-out paperwork to complete. In the paperwork was a submission form to work the following summer season. I paused; taking a long look at my memories of the summer season, I had worked, with the realization; there could never be again, a season, so rich in memory and savored for all I had learned along the way. It was a once in a lifetime experience that could never be repeated or matched. Bob was retiring, the seasoned trail crew leaders would not return next season, the college students would graduate and work other jobs dedicated to preservation of nature and it's study. For each spot unfilled, one thousand qualified applicants would apply, seeking lifelong memories. Seeking an opportunity to work a single summer season in Glacier National Park, I felt compelled not to deny them that chance. Slowly with resolve in my decision, I read two printed lines:


[ ] Will RETURN to work next season.
[ ] Will NOT return to work next season.

I placed an X in the Box next to “ Will NOT return …. “. I never regretted the choice; over the years my hair thinned and turned to gray; from time to time, I recall with a far deeper richness, than I can ever put in words, my experiences and joy of that summer season long ago.