Junior Rangers

For those of you who don't follow the cycles of the moon, we are currently very close to the new moon phase. Taking advantage of this "lack" of the moon, last night, tonight, and tomorrow night, there are star talks going on. Yesterday I was assigned to help out at one of these night talks, which means I worked 1pm - 11pm.

Pretty early on in my day I was riding one of the buses. On the buses I answer questions, tell a few jokes, and give out general information. I need to be outgoing in my job and get people to open up to me when they really do have questions, so I'm often a little odd (I know, this isn't atypical). For instance I often say "Does anyone have any questions? About the Grand Canyon? Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness?" or make a joke about how bus surfing is fun, but bus falling is not (so people hold on to the railings). Most folks laugh and start talking to me, which is the main idea.

At one point on my bus route I had an older gentleman approach me before he got off the bus. This is what he said: "You are very young, very pretty, and very smart." I laughed and thanked him. Some folks on the buses say the funniest things to me. Today one asked if I was in high school, and refused to believe me when I said I was a 2nd time graduate student.

In preparation for the star talk that evening I helped the ranger in charge load up his van with boxes of special flashlights, as well as the PA system he would use during the talk. When I say "special flashlights" what I mean is we have boxes of regular ol' flashlights that we took a red marker to, to color in the plastic top so that the light coming out is red. Red lights are better for your night vision because they don't cause your pupils to constrict as much, allowing you to adjust from looking down to looking up at the stars. My job was to hand out the flashlights and ask people to turn off their megawatt bulbs.

Listening to the talk from up the way a little I was able to follow along looking up at the zodiac signs, the Milky Way (incredibly bright without ambient lighting in the area). The ranger giving the talk explained how far light had to travel in order to see the stars, often hundreds to billions of light years away. This was really neat, because we are really looking back in time every time we gaze into the heavens.

Thinking about a shooting star, galaxies away... The light reaches are eyes and for a short few seconds we are blessed with the rare view of a fiery being streaking across the sky. Inside our hearts leap, and our minds send out immediate wishes. Pupils dilate as we search the sky for more of these wonders. In reality though, this event happened hours, days, even years ago, and we only now are seeing its beauty. How true this is for life in general. The moments that define, influence, and inspire us are often not those epiphanies when we realize we have changed. In fact they happen months and years ahead of time, preparing us for this moment. And it isn't just the short streak across the sky that we find beautiful; it is every moment prior.


This morning I started work at 7:30am, which after last night's late night was a bit early. Later this week I'll have the same schedule though; one late night followed by an early morning. One of my first duties of today was to ride on out to the Tusayan bus that runs from the park into the small town of Tusayan. While waiting for my bus I met a group of probably around 12 folks, all related to each other. They asked if I wouldn't mind having my picture taken with their kids, so I did. They had half a dozen cameras, so we were there for a while.

A bit later in the day I saw them again, and answered some more questions. Even later I saw the same family, and this time they wanted more pictures with me, and then I was able to swear in 3 of their kids as junior rangers. What I thought was incredibly cool was at one point I got talking to them about when I was a junior ranger. At home I have a picture of me in one of the ranger hats from when I was young, sitting next to a park ranger. This family thought that was really neat, and one of the young girls wants to be a ranger when she grows up, so we took a similar picture together. Just a great family and an awesome experience.

Today my count was a bit high for people contacts. As I look over at my counter I see I'm up to 405 people. There are a few who stick out, who I'll tell you about. I came across two gentlemen staring at a map, and I knew they were a bit mixed around. I went up to offer some help when one of them turns to me, obviously relieved, and asked if I wouldn't mind walking him to the canyon (300 yards from where we were standing). He reached out his hand, so I grabbed it, and started jokingly walking him towards the rim. He laughed pretty hard, and I let go and pointed them on their way. People are generally just good natured and love a laugh and a smile.

I also came across two couples, a pair of 70 year olds, and a pair of 40 year olds. They had a ton of questions, and I talked with them for about a half hour. We chatted about my job, where I was from, information about the park, what are the best books to buy, what emergency was happening... you name it, they asked about it! It's great to spend a bit more time with each of these folks, and they really appreciate it. And they are hilarious!

When I ride the buses I don't sit. I always stand in the front and hold on. Sometimes if I need my hands to point to the map or so forth I'll put a foot on either side of the aisle, bracing myself. While I was doing this answering question one gentleman asked if we were trained in martial arts. I put my hands up and said "Why yes of course! We use it when we walk home at night to fend off the coyotes." He laughed pretty hard. I told him we were also trained in surfing, and immediately jumped to a surfing pose. I followed that with "And it's a miracle I didn't just fall doing that." I love this job!!

Tonight one of my friends and I went and grabbed some dinner and ice cream, and then drove on up to watch a bit of the sunset. I was very disappointed I hadn't grabbed my camera! I promise to catch a real sunset and take more pictures. Well I'm beat, so I'm headed to bed. If anyone wants to come out and visit I'd be happy to show you around South Rim, and take you for a hike if you're up for it!!