Ranger Notes from 2020
The Soundtracks of Our Lives
December 2020
Hiking along the Island Trail with a family of three, we focus on using our sense of sight, touch, smell, and hearing to look for wildlife. When we reach the south side of the trail, the breeze from the lake ceases and the forest darkens as the sun begins to set. We stop and listen.
The Will to Survive
November 2020
As I drive through the park I am drawn to the strangeness of our trees. If one were to look closely at our trees, lessons in strength, resilience, and the ability to change are taught.
The Instinct to Migrate
October 2020
The cooler weather brings back memories from when I was a child. I used to "build camp" and pretend to migrate around the backyard as the weather changed. As an adult, I watch migrating animals with a hint of envy and imagine life with no boundaries or passports.
Migratory animals, such as Mexican free-tailed bats, will leave their summer roosts with the arrival of cold weather and head south.
Read more Instinct to Migrate...
Mayfly Madness
September 2020
The natural world is full of seasonal changes. At Martin Dies, Jr. State Park, every day and every season offers new experiences. Many campers and locals are familiar with one of those: mayfly season.
A Truthful Talk About Snakes
July 2020
It’s warm outside, squirrels are racing, and cicadas are buzzing: all signs that we’re entering the doldrums of summer and snake encounters.
I’ve been thinking about snakes and our relationships to them more than what’s normal for this park ranger.
Never Truly Isolated
June 2020
During this time of isolation and disconnect, I am reminded of our primal connection to something greater, our life-giving earth. Everything in the natural world means something to another living being.
Read more Never Truly Isolated...
Forgetting the Past
January 2020
Years ago, I came across a couple vertical concrete culverts in the thicket of the woods at the park. There was a long metal pipe inside them, but they were not connected to any known water lines. Why were they there, what were they? I asked fellow employees, but they had no idea. They were a mystery.
