Date: 2017-06-27
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

I guess it¢s about time for a 2017 summer update. Quite a bit has happened since I finished the henro trail on Shikoku in April. When I was in Takamatsu, I got an email about a job that I had applied for a couple months previously, when I was still in Hartford. And somehow, after a year of total suck, of a sick stomach, an inability to run, and general misery, something good finally happened. I got a job. I got a job that started less than two weeks after my return from Japan. Introducinggggg:  PARK RANGER RED PANDA. Yeah, you got it. Dreams do come true, people. I am living the dream,  I mean, it¢s going okay so far. If you ignore the times I¢m in the office, sitting in front of the computer, trying to understand procedures and outlines, history, training programs, trying to access HR forms, etc. and focus on the time when I¢m outside, or hanging out in a museum on an island off an island (seriously this is the year of islands), it¢s amazing. For the first time in a long time, I¢m really starting to feel like a whole person again. Well, mostly a whole person. I¢m still missing some things, but I¢m making good progress. My health is improving. I¢ve been hiking, running, biking¢¦ Even - dare I say it? - socializing. I¢m trying. I really am. I even went camping NOT ALONE. In Canada. With a ranger friend. It was good. I¢m making good progress, no? Anyway I have one pretty decent AT-related story that I have to share¢¦ and as a note, I am typing it on top of a mountain, overlooking the ocean, a lighthouse in view, and I FEEL LIKE A JOHN DENVER SONG: ¢Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happyyyyyy¢ Okay story time: I led my first ranger program this week - a narrated cruise to a small island off the coast. I was mad nervous. I spent all of my free time (which wasn¢t much) trying to cram facts into my brain so that I could then spew them back to park visitors in a sensical, interesting manner. It¢s not very easy. I am not a public speaker. I was terrified of forgetting the details of my program outline, which I¢d had a minimal amount of time to prepare. I was afraid that I wouldn¢t be able to identify all the birds people were DEFINITELY going to point out from the side of the boat.  So there I am in the marina, talking to a really nice couple, when it becomes clear that my camping buddy ranger, who was heading off in a different boat, was waiting for me. And it was TIME. TIME TO GET ON THE BOAT. Time to release all that nervous energy in a pleasant, wonderful, interesting program, not a vomitload of irrelevant information.  Did I mention the boat was full to capacity? On my first program? The weather was gorgeous, it was a Sunday, and everyone was ready to see some cool stuff.  I did not feel particularly ready. However, as is often the case, I did not have a choice. So I walk around the boat, greeting visitors, telling them how lucky they were to have a nice, sunny day, because the previous morning had been foggy and miserable and there had only been NINE people on the boat as opposed to the current SIXTY FOUR. Someone asked me, as I stood in my flat hat, green pants, and gray shirt, ¢What do you do for the winter?¢ My response was a slightly awkward, ¢Well, this is my first park job, but I¢ve been all over the place. I lived in Korea for two years, hiked the Appalachian Trail, went backpacking in Japan¢¦ Other person says, ¢Did you thru-hike the AT?¢ I said yes, in 2015. I overhear someone ask, ¢What does thru-hike mean?¢ THEN, GET THIS, SOMEONE ELSE nearby goes,  ¢My favorite trail journal from 2015 was Red Panda.¢ I almost died. Was it not bad enough that I was terrified of my FIRST official program as an official park ranger, with the hat and the pants and the boots that make me trip?  What are the chances of this happening? I said a lot of embarassing things and ran away before Captain Rob started us off on our cruise. Flustered and confused and (SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HECK??), I somehow managed to survive the first hour. Somehow. I think I¢m still reeling a little. After we stopped at an island and everyone disembarked, the guy came up to me and apologized, saying he didn¢t mean to embarass me. He asked about my M&M addiction (I have not bought any M&Ms since I have arrived here. I mean, not straight bags of M&Ms. I¢ve bought trail mix. And picked them out of my trail mix¢¦ of course¢¦) He was super nice, and I felt bad that I had responded so strangely. But, I mean, what do you even say to that? ¢I admit, I am Red Panda¢¦ that weird girl who you read all about, pooping in the woods for five months.¢ That¢s me. Red Panda. Fatter and uniformed with an awesome, not-financially-well-paid job, banging around in the wilderness for the summer. And the visitor center. I spend a lot of time in the visitor center.  It was an unexpected encounter. Life continues to be an adventure. Anyway, that¢s my latest story. Like always, life is full of good things and bad things. I miss my cat. It¢s hard to be around people all the time. But I¢m planning on a good summer of hiking and biking and camping. I just ordered a new, not-tiny-claustrophobic tent so I can do short, easy backpacking trips on a nearby pond.  Now off I go, to enjoy the very minimal free time I have. I set out this afternoon to go on a hike, look at trees, identify them, and to take a bit of time plan my next program. HA! I just kept hiking. Better for my soul, and my chubby legs. I told Trail Mentor Alexa that I¢d join her relay team on the 4th of July¢¦ which means I have to be able to run 4 miles NEXT WEEK. I only started running again a couple of weeks ago. My body is not pleased with this decision. But it¢s going to be a good summer, right?