Monday, June 30, 2014

the gorge

if you grow up in this part of vermont, there is a thing your parents tell you as soon as you start to get to the age where you might be getting in cars to go places with people.

they tell you never, ever, no matter what, promise you will never go swimming in huntington gorge.

the thing is that huntington gorge is spectacularly beautiful and also a popular swimming hole despite the fact that to go swimming there you have to pass right by the official state sign listing the people who have died in the gorge over time.

the sign, of course, does not detail the most recent deaths, nor does it capture the horror of some years ago when sgt. gary gaboury of the state police was killed in the gorge trying to retrieve a body that was turning like a logroll in the water.

after sgt. gaboury died, they just let that body spin until it was safe to retrieve it.

this morning we woke to the news that a middle-aged woman who had not yet been identified was found dead in the gorge last night.

later on, at a more respectful interval of time, i will go to the gorge and take some pictures so you can see what it is i'm talking about.

2 comments:

Zhoen said...

Can we then give her a Darwin Award?

flask said...

oh, it gets worse.

tonight on my way to somewhere i went by way of dugway road, which is the road that snakes up the huntington gorge. you couldn't hardly drive through, the cars were parked so thick with swimmers, even at the place the woman died.

you might think that the day after they fished her out, there might be fewer swimmers under the big state sign that says DEATHS AT HUNTINGTON GORGE and lists the names.

you might think it. you'd be wrong.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails