Proudly Representing...

Day 255: I am proud to be one of six uniformed personnel representing Mount Rainier National Park in Seattle's Pride Parade today, joined by another half dozen employees and their family members who will be on personal time. While the theme of Pride is specifically LGBTQIA+ rights, in my heart and soul, I am walking for everyone who is in any way marginalized. We should celebrate our differences, for only by examining them and exploring them can we progress toward global unity. It probably won't happen in my lifetime, but at least I'll have put my best foot forward.

Alliance

Day 256: For the first time since the pandemic began, Mount Rainier National Park will be sending a contingent of rangers to march in Seattle's Pride Parade. I will be among them. Yes, I am concerned about covid. Moreso (and particularly in light of recent events), I am worried about potential violence. I am going nevertheless. Why? Of the people in my close acquaintance, roughly 50 percent are either LGBTQ+ or have an LGBTQ+ family member. These are people I care about, people whose rights as human beings may very well be in serious jeopardy. It is one way I can say, "I am an ally. I respect your choices." I am fed up to the back teeth with groups of people telling other groups of people that their way is the only way, that their religious beliefs supercede those of others, that their opinions are the only ones that matter. I am tired of hypocrisy and of divisiveness. I am sick of people being judged by the colour of their skins, by what private acts they engage in with a consenting partner. If their rights fall, what next? We cannot stand idly by when the lives of friends and their families are threatened. Be an ally.

Double-Take Time

Day 261: Worn out from marching...well, dancing...as I was one of the many representatives of the National Park Service in Seattle's Pride Parade, I think I can be excused for having gobbled down a restaurant dinner without noticing the floral arrangment at the opposite end of the table I was sharing with Kevin and his family. When it finally did catch my eye, I did a classic double-take. "That's a bloody Yellow Knapweed, I'm sure of it!" I blurted out, and then jokingly told the waitress I was going to have to turn in an invasive-plant report on the establishment. Yes, Yellow Knapweed (Centaurea macrocephala, aka Bighead Knapweed or Globe Centaury) is a Class A invasive in King County. I quote, "Bighead knapweed is a Class A noxious weed in Washington and property owners are required to eradicate it from their property.  It is also on the Washington quarantine list (also known as the prohibited plants list) and it is illegal to buy, sell or offer it for sale in the state of Washington." So what in bloody hell was it doing on my dinner table? The law doesn't cover cut flowers, and I suppose I should be glad it's not going to seed somewhere, but I would like to know where they got it and whether or not they realize what it is. Y'know, it's not often you find an invasive in a restaurant. I should get bonus points or something.

Doctor Kevin And The Daleks

Day 255: Obviously having won out over Doctor #4 as evidenced by possession of his famous scarf, now the Daleks face off with Doctor Kevin and his trusty sonic...um...Smarties packet. Look out, Kevin! There's another one behind you!

The Daleks were just one of over three hundred entries in yesterday's Pride Parade in Seattle. The National Park Service was represented by rangers from Mount Rainier, Olympic, Klondike (Seattle), the Regional office and San Juan National Historic Park. There were easily two dozen of us, some in uniform and others not, marching in support of human rights. It seemed like it took forever for us to begin the walk from our position near 4th and Madison to the Seattle Center, but those below us in the queue had an even longer wait. As I walked the mile back to the light-rail station at Westlake, the parade was still making its way through downtown.