When our restaurant business failed, we headed north in a camping truck to Texas, hoping to have a “fresh start”.
At the 1of Palo Duro Canyon (峡谷) State Park, I 2a job advertisement hiring park hosts. The position offered a 3, permanent campsite in the park, and 4, the hosts served as a link between the park's guests and the rangers (护林人). It was the perfect solution: a rent-free place to reorganize our lives. We entered the park and I made an 5for the following day.
The park was6, so it took us some time to find an available site. That evening, as we finished our dinner, my wife saw two large skunks (臭鼬) walking toward our table. We7climbed onto the table and, for the next four hours, waited for them to 8our camp.
Having survived that night, we were 9that everything else would be all right. The next day we met with the people who ran the park. They explained our10and gave us a beautiful campsite.
That evening, 11, we learned about the canyon 12 They were strong and cold, rocking our little camping truck violently, and we lay 13 in the dark until the winds died away.
14the weeks that followed, we learned to survive in our truck and 15the little money my wife16by substitute teaching. Building a successful business and then losing it had left very little time for building a successful 17. For a time after our business 18I thought I might lose my family as well.
Living in the tiny19with no television, we sat close together reading and talking. One evening, standing under a jeweled sky, I found myself 20for all the hardships. We had walked the trails and climbed the canyon walls. We had become a family!
