Rich old men

I know, I know... I've been lax on writing on here!! It's been a crazy week! Monday and Wednesday I worked late shifts (1pm - 11pm), while Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday I had regular shifts (7:30am - 5:30pm). Needless to say my sleep schedule was a little out of whack, but I'm back on track!!

Wednesday afternoon, early on in my day, I was riding one of the buses. As I always do I asked if anyone had any questions. By the end of the day my voice is usually a few octaves lower than it should be from trying to talk over other people, as well as the bus engines. At each bus stop I grab my hat and stand outside the bus in order to make room for people getting on and off, and to answer the questions of those getting off the bus. This particular morning two mature women stepped off the bus, and one of them grabbed my arm saying "You didn't tell us where to find two old rich men!" I pointed her back to the El Tovar, and she laughed.

A bit later in my rounds I saw a family of four skipping singing "We're off to see the Wizard!!" I laughed, and they were a bit embarrassed, but I assured them it wasn't the strangest thing I'd seen all day (though it probably was).

I love this place, and the people here. Every day I talk with any number of people, from every where in the world. A great deal of the visitors I work with do not speak much english, and we make do with what I know of their language, what they know of mine, and a whole lot of pointing at maps. It is just an incredible experience.

The bus drivers mainly all know me, and are more than happy to introduce me to the entire bus load over the microphone, sometimes as Special K, much to my embarrassment. Each time I do my introduction I'm faced with new questions, new people, and wonderful new smiles!

One person asked me why it was that one of the layers of the canyon was named "Vishnu Schist". Now I'm sure my mom would have a witty comeback, but instead I told them the story I had been told. Charles Dutton came to the Grand Canyon, and upon seeing it's beauty and majesty he realized the importance of this place. He believed the canyon was created by God. Wanting the canyon to belong to all peoples, not just those in the United States, he began naming areas after deities from many different beliefs and religions.

It's an awesome story, and a wonderful belief! This place, this earth, is a gift to all people. Regardless of how you may personally believe it came to be, it is a gift none-the-less. We marvel in it's complexity, simplicity, diversity, and mystery every day; when we realize it. Here you are forced to face this artistry, and something within you is sparked. You stand on the edge of life itself and there is peace. In this amazement, there is peace. To me it's one of the reasons I start off every morning excited to be here.

On my Thursday bus route I saw a couple I had talked to for a good half hour the night before. They waved emphatically from the back of the bus, and I laughed. Getting off the bus at the same stop the woman came up to me, hugged me, and said "Be as sweet as you are right now." It made me smile, and miss my family. Here this stranger had seen something in me that meant something to her, and was willing to tell me. It really meant a lot.

A few hours later when I was working the environmental education table the same woman came up to me, took my picture while I was doing a demonstration (which I will explain in a minute) and then pulled me aside to tell me she met a really sweet young woman in the El Tovar while having breakfast who's from Lake Placid, and I should be her friend. I laughed. Here she was trying to find me a friend, just in case I needed one. It was cute.

So back to the demonstration... At the Environmental Education table we have a bighorn sheep horn, a mule deer antler, a replica condor egg, and a replica condor skull. The first day I was at the table someone asked how big the wingspan is for the condor. Knowing numbers don't often relay the impact of size, I asked the other ranger at the table to help me. Having her place her left hand on her shoulder, stretch her elbow out, and her right arm towards me, I did the mirror image on the same size. Though I approximated (and it's probably about a half foot too small), the distance from her left elbow to my right elbow was about the wingspan, 9.5 feet.

I have a few other demonstrations I do at the table. For one I put the bighorn sheep horn on my head, sometimes the mule deer antler, and sometimes both. My picture is probably in everyone's photo album with one of each on my head, or my helping young kids do the same. I love it; it makes them laugh; and it gets them asking questions about the animals. I don't mind being a ham, if someone is learning!!

Later on I walked over to catch a shuttle on out towards Hermit's Rest. Due to regulations about how many people can be on the bus, there is often a very long line. Since I'm the only person who is allowed to ride the bus standing, I don't feel too bad moving to the front of the line, because I don't take anyone's seat. Usually I make conversation with the people there in order to answer questions, and just get time to pass for these folks.

On this particular day I saw a group of deaf folks signing. Catching the eye of two of them I signed "Do you have any questions?" Immediately they got their entire group to turn towards me and we conversed for a while. They were interested in who I was, if I had deaf parents, and so on and so forth. It was great to get to sign, but I must confess I needed to brush up!! I've been studying a bit every night since then.

Part of my route was to ride that bus to the top, and then back down to a specific stop, at which I'd get off and hike back to the village. Starting the trip down I asked if there were any questions. One young boy in the back of the bus asked how the Grand Canyon came to be. I told him about the lifting up of the Colorado plateau, the downcutting of the Colorado river, and the erosion of the layers into what we see today. Almost immediately a woman in the front said "Where did you get that?! That's not how it came to be! It was Noah's flood!!"

A debate was born!! One woman was really offended by another, and so on and so forth until they were talking very loudly at each other. Picking up a few more passengers I got everyone's attention, and launched into an impromptu interpretive talk on the trees in the area, and the history of the plants. Much like when I work with 3 year olds, get them distracted and suddenly everyone is happy.

My coworkers have commented that I seem to get all the crazy experiences. This was only supported by the request I had from one gentleman. He asked if he could videotape me walking towards him saying hello. Pictures I get asked for every day, but video?! Interesting...

On Friday morning one of my first duties was to ride the bus out to Tusayan, and back in a few times. On these buses I'm supposed to give a talk, welcoming folks to the Grand Canyon, and giving out basic information. On the first time out of the park I had a family of four. They told me they were headed to the Grand Canyon Airport to take a helicopter trip out over the canyon. The mother of the family was a bit scared, as she had previous experience with helicopters. She told me not to worry though; she had some rum. She wasn't kidding. In a water bottle she had stored 12 oz of rum!! She promised to bike and find me later in the day so I knew she was okay.

This morning, after a wonderful breakfast at the El Tovar, one of my coworkers and I loaded our bikes up onto the shuttle bus, rode it out to Hermit's Rest, and biked back down into the village. I say "back down" but in reality the majority of our trip was uphill. I'm going to be a bit sore tomorrow, that's for sure!!

I have pictures; they will be up shortly!! Sorry for the immensely long post. I will try to be more diligent about writing promptly!