My New (summer) Job

As some of you may already know, I have a new job- albeit (my new favorite old word) a summer job, but it pays the bills. I am working at Branbury State Park for the summer as an attendant (level 3 out of 4- the assistant rangers are ahead of me) I started my new job last Friday. I pulled an evasive weed that is edible- garlic mustard- out of the campground area and learned about the computer system and checking in campers and the like. I also met the couple who are the campground hosts for the season- they stay at the campground for volunteering in the park 30 hours a week. I think that would be a cool gig to do, if I had a camper and a way to pay my bills. They're a younger couple (40 or so years old) and interesting. I also met the girl (she's younger than me, so I'll call her a girl) who's the head interpreter- the person who gives nature talks and hikes and educational programs. She said I could help out when I had time, which will be fun. Overall, it was a pretty good day.

Saturday was my second day, and I knew I would be weed whacking- something I think I'm pretty qualified for. (I was an outdoor product equipment tester for many summers.) I did that until lunchtime and then weeded and mulched around trees until my day was done. Saturday was a very warm day (hot for Vermonters- 82 or so) and we had a lot of people-mostly college kids- "jump the fence" and come in the campground to hang out and swim. There's nothing we can do to stop it, but we do have the bathrooms locked because we just don't have the people to staff the bathroom and clean up the park, too.

I had 2 days off, and tomorrow I start my week. We open Friday for the season, so that should be interesting. Hopefully I don't screw up the camping reservation part too much (I'm a little nervous about it, but there's a few people to help out there, so I'm not too worried.) Tomorrow it is supposed to rain, so I'm not sure what all I'll be doing- cleaning and checking bathrooms and hopefully more inside stuff, but we'll see. Everyday will be different I'm sure.

Also on Friday, my friends from Rochester, NY came to see the Champlain Bridge celebration, which was a dud. It's too bad, because it was a beautiful weekend, but I think that might have been part of the downfall- lots of other things to do instead of going to see a bridge celebration. They were hoping for a 5-10,000 people and I don't think they came anywhere near that number. The craft vendors there were bummed and my friends were a bit bummed too. They said the fireworks were good (I didn't go to that) and it was good to see them.

Busy weekend, and this weekend will be even busier being the holiday weekend. I'll keep you updated with my adventures at the state park and my teaching interviews. More to come soon!