All the Wrong Reasons

In the small fishing town of Ennis, MT we enjoyed the most social days we’ve had since the beginning of the pandemic. Finding ourselves in a mini HBS 10-year-reunion in a town of 900 people is just another thing I didn’t see coming in 2020. The Wannops and Grinnas are friends from our Boston days and are now caravanning in RVs with their collective seven children while working and homeschooling. Bravo!

We did a fly fish float with a long-time friend from UNC-Chapel Hill who left his successful career in finance to pursue his brewer dreams. He is now a brewmaster at Philipsburg Brewing and walking with him down the main street in Philipsburg, I’m pretty sure he’s the Mayor. Sure, Philipsburg Heffeweisen wins global awards, but you should really try the Otter Water!

Also this week we met up with friends Eliza and Evan who left Charlotte, NC a few years back and started a new life together in Bozeman, MT. They offered much guidance on living the good life and how to avoid being mauled by grizzlies.

I’m proud to call these people my friends for deciding what brings them joy and creating their life from there. It’s not so easily done.

Certainly these people are not the ones Tom Petty refers to as “bought and sold for all the wrong reasons.”

All the Wrong Reasons is the next song on Petty’s album Into The Great Wide Open. It serves as a warning against losing yourself to materialism. “Bought and sold… for all the wrong reasons.” It’s trite but true, life is empty when you only have what’s outside of you. But what Petty addresses that is less commonly talked about is when you, yourself, let others buy you through material avenues. Petty sings, “down in the soul, it was an act of treason.”

There’s a peaceful contentment that nature most efficiently facilitates. Feeling small among great mountains, trees and seas. I tell my children so often that they have started saying it to me upon encountering a new grand setting on this adventure, “I feel like an ant.” And for me feeling small in the greatness and beauty of the universe makes me feel at peace. I have everything I need.

Evan described fly fishing as ‘washing the soul.” I like that. And whether it’s fly fishing, surfing, hiking, running, praying, writing, or simply sitting quietly, to find the space to release all that makes your soul heavy, is a blessing. It is also necessary soul hygiene.

Wherever you are, I hope you can find this space for your soul. That will be for all the right reasons.

Wannops, Grays, and Grinnas Reunited and still Sec-C!

9/20/20: Day two of fly fishing and floating down the Madison River. Robert scored the trifecta: caught a rainbow trout, brown trout and a whitefish! Brewmaster Ben joined us for the day as well. After fishing we checked out the brewery in downtown Ennis, Burnt Tree Brewing, where they had bluegrass musicians performing and beer free flowing. Running to grab some coloring books for the kids in the car, and I heard a loud beep and my name shouted. It was my long-time friend from Boston, Katie! She picked up her husband Brent and they joined us at the brewery! We had Chef “Fresh Frank” cook for us back at the hunting cabin and it was delicious: Smoked trout, local grass-fed filets of beef, chef-foraged mushrooms, and a salad of vegetables and flowers from his garden. Ben stayed for dinner and we had a blast!

9/21/20: Friends Eliza and Evan dropped in for drinks, and we hosted the Grinnas and Wannops for dinner— that’s nine kids in total! So wonderful seeing more old friends. This is the most social we’ve been in a while!

9/22/20: Friends back in Charlotte gave us access to a private road that takes you straight to Big Sky from Ennis. It’s called Jack Creek Road and it’s 100% gravel. We hiked a friend’s property and then went down to Ousel Falls Trail and enjoyed the light hike to a 40-foot waterfall. Beautiful ride home along Ennis Lake. We saw another moose swimming! We also mailed in our voting ballots from the McAllister, MT post office today!

Cameron asked to have his photo taken here in the stream

Whitefish catch on the Madison Riven near Cameron, MT

Nine children in ten years, not too shabby Grinnas, Grays, and Wannops! Dinner and fun by Ennis Lake in McAllister, MT

Is there anything better than a shared meal with a long-time friend? And holy smokes, that was the best steak ever! “Fresh Frank” knew the cow too, I believe. All at the hunting lodge on Ennis Lake in McAllister, MT.

Living in the Land of the Pups at Burnt Tree Brewing

Cam catches and tries to hold onto a trout

View of Ennis Lake from our hunting cabin in McAllister, MT

Float Boat Figurehead, Madison River near Cameron MT

End of our fishing adventure in Ennis, MT

9/23/20: Met back up with the Albergottis staying in Yellowstone for an afternoon at the Bear and Wolf Discovery Center. Our first time in Idaho— you have to drive through Idaho to get to Yellowstone from Ennis apparently. It was a fun surprise! The kids love spending time with the Albergotti children!