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It was one of the windiest, coldest nights we’d seen so far last winter in Houghton Lake. Little did we know that it was only the beginning of a below freezing spell that would go on to last for about the next month or so. Obviously it was normal to have snow and ice in the middle of January, We were used to that. Being a tourist town, business owners depend on it during the winter months. We always used to say that Houghton Lake had 3 seasons; summer, fall and Tip-Up-Town, or as the locals call it TUT. TUT is the annual ice fishing festival and carnival held on the frozen lake for 2 weekends every January. People from all over the state flock to the area to take part in the festivities, and mostly just to ride their sleds. During the winter, and especially during TUT, the lake resembles a highway with all the snowmobile traffic. No matter where you are in town, you can hear sled motors revving up all day and night long, from all directions, all winter long. My neighbor’s husbands and friends were avid sledders in the winter time. I had learned this the previous winter. I moved in next door to the Carlls, in October of 2001. I already knew Shannon and Dallas. Our daughters, Angel and Breanne, were friends. Shannon and I had worked together, which is how I came to buy my trailer in the first pl/ace. There was another couple, Kim and Jody, who lived in the trailer behind mine. They had 2 daughters, Lynna and Mercedes, who became friends with Angel and Breanne. I was the only one, in the bunch, who wasn’t married yet. I was involved in a long-distance relationship at the time, which, after seeing the sometimes frequent squabbles between those two couples, seemed like a much better deal. Over time, these people became some of my best friends. Jody and Dallas were always very close, like brothers. We used to say that Jody was Dallas’ “other” wife and vice versa. Where one of them went, the other wasn’t far behind. They were inseparable. When Jody was laid off, Dallas got him a job doing masonry, for the company he worked for. They played softball together, shot pool together, goofed off together and now they worked together. Pool leagues were a big deal in that town, and the guys that played took it seriously.
Approximate Word count = 1611
Approximate Pages = 6.4
(250 words per page double spaced)
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