Devin Curtis

English 2010
Professor Katy Wittingham
Flash Memoir

When I was a child I have very fond memories of visiting the Great Salt Lake…

When I say fond, I mean I look back at them with a sort of reminiscence over the

simpler times that I had experienced as a child. One time in particular stands out among

the rest for the pure joy and fascination over one of the main attractions we get the

pleasure of smelling every now and then in the wonderful Salt Lake city area. I was in

elementary school at the time, I had almost missed the deadline for payment for the trip.

My mother had to sign off on a permission slip and send some payment so that I might

be able to go on the field trip. This field trip was to the great salt lake with my class of

other elementary schoolers and myself. This trip was designed to give young kids in my

elementary school some experience and knowledge about what the Great Salt Lake

was. I, like many of the other children who were going on this field trip, had never been

to the Great Salt Lake before and was giddy with excitement. In fact, the whole class

was as excited as I was. I remember the day of the field trip, everyone who was going

had lunches packed by their loving parents, myself included. We were all bundled up in

warm clothing as it was going to be a frigidly cold day, and we would be outside for most

of it. I had a green beanie that looked like Kermit the frog, if you’ve ever seen the

muppets you know what I am talking about. Anyways I remember that our whole class

was supposed to be boarding the yellow school bus to go on this adventure together.

The drive there and back would take most of the day, along with our actual visitation of

the Great Salt Lake. Even for being such a young child I can remember the weathered
faces of teachers and chaperones who would be going on this field trip, I am sure that

the last thing they were looking forward to was looking after a school bus full of cold and

bored children. Anyways, everyone except for one child was aboard the bus, we had

actually forgotten someone! I can remember the panic halfway before leaving as the

teachers were doing the headcount and noticed someone was missing. Fortunately that

child was just using the restroom and made it to the bus in time to leave with the rest of

our group. After everyone was aboard we were finally ready to leave.

I remember the ride out to the Great Salt Lake. Children were crying out with joy

to have a day outside the classroom, of course the smog made it difficult for some of the

students who had asthma conditions, as is fairly common here in Salt Lake due to our

poor air quality. Everyone was laughing and having a jolly time on the bus ride, peanut

butter and jelly uncrustable sandwiches were passed out and cherished as some kind of

rare treat, oh what I wouldn’t give to have the joy of being a child and having a field trip

again, or my first uncrustable again. The ride seemed so long as a child where now it

would seem like only a short drive to get out to the Great Salt Lake. When we got close,

the smell hit the bus like a bag of bricks hits the ground. With such potent stench

unknown to the majority of my class, it was a terrible realization for many of us that we

would be spending the next few hours at the direct source of said smell. We moaned

and groaned about the foul smell, some children even joked that the bus driver had

eaten too many beans before the drive and was to blame for the putrid stench. Now as

an adult the smell of the Great Salt Lake wafts over our city every now and then and again I

am reminded of my childhood field trip. As a child I did not understand the importance of the

Great Salt Lake to our local ecosystem, however I did immediately realize that it was home to

many different living creatures.and supported a wide variety of living things. I remember exiting
the bus and seeing birds flying around and mice scurrying along the ground. I realized then that

the trip was going to be fun yet still, the smell lingered in the back of my mind. I don’t think I will

ever get used to it. I remember listening to our teachers and our guide about the ecosystem of

the Great Salt Lake and being fascinated, I had no idea something so foul smelling and looking

could actually support life. It opened my eyes as a child to the world of living things, and how

they can come in all forms, shapes, and sizes. As the tour went on so too did the class, trudging

along begrudgingly. Students were getting hungry and temperamental, our teachers decided it

was time for us to eat lunch. As many of our parents had packed lunches for children we were

to go and find our lunchbox from the storage area, others were to eat the snacks that the adults

had brought for those whose parents did not care to pack a lunch for them or could not pack a

lunch. Apples, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and bananas seemed to feed our entire class

from morning to night.

Once we had finished eating our second meal of the day, we were about to be getting

along going back to the school. The time had come for us to evaluate what we had learned

about the Great Salt Lake and share one memorable fact, experience, or thought about the

Great Salt Lake. Many students mentioned the smell, myself included. Some mentioned the

birds, or other wildlife we had seen. Afterwards we hopped on the bus, and went back to our

local school, everyone had a fun time. No thanks to the smell…