Tuesday, September 06, 2005

And the Beat Goes On

Okay. I'm finally posting again. It has been a hectic week. I was laboring on Labor Day weekend, and it was busy as hell. In the midst of all the chaos, one visitor told me I was the most helpful ranger he had ever met. That made me feel good. It also made me re-evaluate my attitude. While I am always pleasant and polite on the outside, sometimes I am irritated and frustrated on the inside. I love my job. I love the people I work with, and I enjoy the many people who visit the Park. I love to share what I know about the Park with the visitors, and sometimes I loose sight of why I became a ranger. So, here is my list of why I love being a Park Ranger
1. Sharing my knowledge
2. Feeling pride in the system I work for
3. The sense that what I do makes a difference to the environment, and to visitor's attitudes towards the environment
4. Getting paid to hike is the biggest bonus
5. Being one of the few lucky individuals who get to work in one of the most beautiful places in the world.
6. Meeting all sorts of people from all over the world.

That really only touches the surface of what makes my job so wonderful. Here are some pictures of the Boy Scout jamboree I attended in Virginia this summer. I have to head to work, and I am super sore from hiking with Jen and Paul this Sunday, so it's a short one. I'll try to blog more often now that things are slowing down for the winter.

5 comments:

lonna said...

I feel the same way about teaching college students. Most of the time it's great and they are great, but it's easy to get bogged down by the problem students. It must be the same way in the park system. I, too, have to remind myself to remember all of the good stuff.

Missuz J said...

When I was working with you, I always felt like you were the most helpful ranger to all the visitors, and the one who would take the time to make sure people understood what was up. You are very good at what you do. (Also--you make those green jeans look GOOD!)

hazel said...

I love when people love their jobs. I do not love my job. so I can really admire when people do something they are passionate about.

go park ranger, go!

NME said...

It's SO great that you love what you do so much. You make me want to be a park ranger and I don't even like camping.

Kathryn said...

It sounds like so much fun. And by the way, you DO make those gree jeans look good! I enjoyed the pics!