Back To Work

Day 107: My last day in the office was December 12. Kevin was going on leave, so I brought my government computer home with me so I could make a much shorter trip to Park Headquarters a couple of times over the holidays to clear out my emails, which I did on the 21st, the last possible moment before the shutdown took effect. Today...January 28, mind you...I was at last allowed back in the office, and believe me, I was expecting a nightmare. As it turned out, it wasn't as bad as I'd feared because...well, because everybody else was shut down too. The exception to that was Volunteer.gov, through which people could still apply for volunteer opportunities in the Park. A fairly good portion of my backed-up email consisted of those same people writing to find out why I hadn't responded to their applications yet. Um...d'uh! How can anyone have been unaware that the parks were only being operated by a bare minimum of staff? As much as I'd like to think of myself as "essential personnel," my job doesn't include enforcing the law, keeping water systems running or plowing the roads to buildings which must be kept secure against the ravages of alpine winter. At any rate, I got through my day's work with a minimum of stress, and it sure felt good to turn the key in that lock again.

Best U.S. Gov't.

Day 119: I need a new set of keys, one in keeping with current events, i.e., keys which are engraved with the words "Worst U.S. Gov't. Do not duplicate."

Anyone with half a brain knows that procrastination only makes matters worse, so why not work on the budget before it becomes a critical issue? Why doesn't Congress do the damn job we-the-taxpayers are paying them to do? They expect us to have our work done on time and our bills paid. Why can't we expect the same of them?

Okay, the shutdown was done and undone while I slept, which if you think about it, is a rather stupid way to conduct business. That said, it disturbed my sleep even though I don't draw a wage. The headaches simply back up in my email as we wait for somebody to turn the lights back on, and then I'm pressured with how to get my work done in a timely manner. I'm not asking for the "Best U.S. Gov't." I'm just asking for one with a little functionality, one which doesn't screw up my life and the lives of my friends.

Position Description: Scribe

Day 108: I'm scheduling this for publication on January 29 because I'm not sure I'll have internet. It's been dodgy for some time, affecting our whole area. This time, it seems to be localized, so it could well be that my modem has burned out while trying to access non-existent service.

So...the story here is that I have a new position description: scribe to Mount Rainier's Volunteer Program. I took on the responsibility myself, although I have not done any calligraphy for thirty years or more. I learned the art while participating in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism, not Student Conservation Association). The hand I chose to learn was Uncial, and of course to be strictly "period," I could not make adaptations when using it in SCA documents. That said, I developed my own style of illumination (the flourishes and artwork which embellish text), incorporating birds and flowers into my drawings. I created our baronial scroll, a 2' x 3' work which took weeks to complete. Sadly, it disappeared from our Seneschal's keeping, and the only record of it I have are a few sketches and colour slides showing sections of it in close-up.

The volunteer recognition certificates are another story. I had nothing showing the full Uncial alphabet, so I had to invent a few letters. By the time I had completed two dozen "scrolls," I was satisfied with a blend of Uncial and Celtic Roundhand, a closely-related style. I am happy to say that my skill with the pen does not seem to have diminished too badly, and I'm sure by the time I've recognized another several hundred volunteers, I'll be quite confident in its use.

Lichen Basics

Day 106: This is the type of dry reading you're likely to see on official NPS pages from here on out, but at least it's science.

*****

Those of us who live in the Pacific Northwest are fortunate to have a wide variety of lichen species in our forests. Although lichens appear in almost every geographic region of North America, the leafier types are more abundant on the northwest and northeast coasts. Many of them are mistakenly called "mosses," but in fact they are complex symbiotic organisms. One of the most exciting revelations in the field of lichenology occurred this year when a third component was identified in the classic "fungus/algae" pairing: yeast. Let's look more closely at some common PNW lichens and learn a little of the specialized terminology which describes them.

There are three basic types of lichen: foliose, fruticose and crustose. Foliose ("FOH-lee-ose") lichens are "leafy" (think "foliage"). Platismatia (upper left) is an excellent example. Fruticose ("FROO-ti-cose") lichens are bushy or shrubby, or have a three-dimensional structure which often includes round stalks topped by cups or knobs. The photo in the upper right shows an example of Cladonia, a classic fruticose family.

Sometimes, it is difficult to assign a lichen to a specific category. The lower left image shows a Hypogymnia. The Hypogymnias are classified as "foliose-fruticose." The last type of lichen is called crustose ("CRUST-ose"), and as you might guess, it forms a crust which adheres tightly to trees and rocks. Crustose lichens often exhibit small fruiting bodies such as those which appear on Ochrolechia (lower right).

Genetic Predisposition

Day 104: Mount Rainier National Park, Sunrise Community Kitchen, circa 1933. The young woman in the foreground is my mother, the babe-in-arms my uncle-Gus-the-Lake-James-Ranger. It was Gus who set me on the course of my life when I was but nine years old, having obtained permission from his superintendent for me to stay with him in his duty station for ten days. My father had died in the spring, and Gus (ever my idol) was doing his part to help me adjust. In those ten days, I determined two things: that I wanted to climb the Mountain and that I wanted to grow up to work in the Park. My first stint at Carbon River as a volunteer preceded my first successful ascent by a year or two, but I went on to summit five more times (a total of six), and my readers know to look for me at Longmire today.

Aside from having a Park Service bloodline, I feel a strong bond with the broader NPS "family," and I know many of them are likewise moved by a sense of kinship, as well as being united in a common cause. When one of us is attacked or oppressed, it affects us all. Recent events have shown how we will rise to meet the occasion, "rogue rangers" defending our own in their private time. There aren't many organizations which generate that depth of community connection. Parkies together!

Centennial Challenge Coin

Day 318: As part of the Centennial celebrations throughout the National Park Service, volunteers who contribute at least 201.6 hours in the calendar year of 2016 will receive a gorgeous bronze commemorative coin in thanks for their service. By the time I got around to filling out the paperwork for mine, I already had 450+ hours on the books, and "busy season" wasn't even half over. I'm pleased to say that quite a few of our volunteers have already earned their coins although only a few made it into the first batch to be delivered. Bonuses like this say "thank you" in a tangible way, but the real rewards of volunteering are the feelings of community and ownership derived from giving of yourself and your time to a project or cause which you feel is important. Don't just sit there! Get out and volunteer!

NPS Centennial

Day 317: Happy Birthday, NPS! I am happy to say that I have been a member of the Park Service family for over a tenth of its lifetime and plan to keep going as long as I can. For those of you who may have wondered, I began volunteering at Mount Rainier just slightly under forty years ago, and although there was a rather large gap in the middle of my service, I have over ten years to my credit. I have occupied my primary position for over five years, but work with a number of different Interpretive and Natural Resources programs as well as the occasional spot of Outreach or Maintenance.

Since I am called to duty for the 100th birthday celebration at Paradise, I shuffled the schedule a little so that I could visit the site of the historic Paradise Ice Caves while putting in hours for the MeadoWatch plant phenology program. The real Ice Caves are long gone, and I suspect the ones I saw in the '50s were but shabby stand-ins for those so famous in the '30s. Even fifty years ago, MORA was talking about their decline. Today, no vestige of the original Ice Caves exists. I do remember when the Paradise Glacier overhung the cliffs at my back in this photo, and when something resembling ice caves tempted stalwart (read, "foolish") climbers and hikers to enter into their depths. I was never tempted. A glimpse into the interior was sufficient warning: a maze of frozen stalactites hung from the ceiling and from every low point, painfully cold drips of water waited to fall down the back of your neck. It was not uncommon for great chunks of ice to break free and fall to the floors of the chilly tunnels.

There have been many changes on the Mountain in 100 years, both natural and administrative. Some set well with me, and others not so well. However, if I have learned one thing in the years I have spent in the Park, both as a volunteer and as a private citizen, it is that the Mountain endures. In fact, I have often referred to the great snowy presence on my horizon as "the one stable point in my universe." That familial attachment is what inspires me daily, and I am grateful beyond expression for those who strive to protect its integrity. I am proud of my Park Service family and am thrilled to be part of the celebration of the NPS Centennial.

The Future of NPS

Day 257 (bonus post): According to the folks at LEGO, the LEGO National Parks series wasn't "global" enough to put into production. I understand that logic, but I was unhappy because I really wanted one of those ranger mini-figures. Then I discovered that they were available as a limited edition, made from "repurposed LEGO parts" and not actually a LEGO product. I ordered two, and then set about finding a way to convert one of them into ME. I ordered a head with glasses and an additional Peter Capaldi wig (the only grey hair they had available), and from my small stockpile of spare parts, figured out a way that my avatar could hold her hat in her hand.

Of course I was duty-bound to insert her into my "Doctor Who" set, and within seconds of the time I submitted the photo to Facebook's "National Park Service LEGO Vignettes" page, the administrators contacted me with a resounding "Awesome!" and permission to post it to the page. I captioned it "The future of the National Park Service is in your hands."

NPS Litter Team, Earth Day 2013

Day 200: In anticipation of Earth Day (Monday, April 22), Mount Rainier National Park sent out a team comprised of volunteers, paid employees and their family members to complete a litter patrol covering two miles of SR 706, the main access to the Park. In three hours, the group of twelve collected eleven bags of trash as part of their contract with the Washington State Department of Transportation's "Adopt-a-Highway" program. I had the honor of supervising this great crew, and couldn't have asked for a cheerier and efficient lot. Thank you so much, gang, for helping keep the Road to Paradise clean and tidy!