Summer Feeling

For all you UM students, it's finals week, which means that right now you're either tearing your hair out before a test, or that you're done with your finals and well on your way toward that sweet summer feeling. And if you're a pre-college student, you are, at this point, probably staring slack-jawed out the window while your teachers make half-hearted attempts at stuffing the last remaining crannies of your brains full of useful knowledge before summer erases everything. As for the rest of us who don't get three month summer breaks, we're just happy to finally see the sun.

Which brings me to an important question, one that I put to students and working stiffs alike: what will you do with your summer vacation?

Having spent a couple of summers in Missoula, I can honestly say that summers here are uniquely fabulous. A friend recently reminded me of a particularly invigorating activity we both took part in a few summers back: The Mud Wrestling Party. There are still some around here who will remember the event, and the costume-clad glory seekers who came to it, who struggled against each other and the very earth itself, all for the chance to win The Champion's Belt (a belt-like article crafted from aluminum cans and duct tape).

Other interesting summer diversions I've heard of as of late: throwing a junk-food potluck, reading the entirety of Moby Dick aloud with friends, learning how to build stone walls, performing plays at nursing homes...yes, my friends, the sky's the limit. And, of course, I also can't say enough about classic Missoula summer activities like hiking, floating, fishing, gardening, and spending long evening on a porch with a good book.

Whatever the case, whatever you choose to do this summer, you'd better get on it; there's only 41/2 months till October.