December First!!

Wow! I can't believe it is December already! I happily opened the first door of my little pop-up advent calendar Mom sent me this morning while I was getting ready for work. So far, this month could be going better.

This morning, I tried to make eggs over easy but managed to break both the yokes and set off the smoke detector. That should have been a sign to how the rest of the day was going to go.

Because of the heavy rains we received around Thanksgiving, our roads to the outlier sites (Hovenweep is made up of 5 different sites. Our largest site is at the Visitor Center. The rest of the sites (the outliers) are off rough ungraded dirt roads) are closed. While they might be manageable for a 4-wheel drive high clearance vehicle, the ruts the tires make on the roads would make it difficult for the next person down, would tear up the already difficult road, and would take longer for the road to dry out because water would gather in the ruts. We know this because, despite our information and explanations as to why we close the roads, visitors still continue to travel them, making our job increasingly more difficult. I unfortunately found this out first hand.

Yesterday an elderly couple came in with their granddaughter. I was giving them the necessary information about the National Monument and our main site when the gentlemen so rudely interrupted me to ask about the other sites. I explained that they were closed due to the condition of the roads, when he informed me that he had already been to our southern most site today and "the road was just fine." "Well, that is why we ask you to come to the Visitor Center first, Sir. Then I could have told you that while you might be able to get down to the ruins fine, you still are damaging the roads and we are asking you not to do that," I explained as nicely and clearly as I could. He continued to question me about our policy of closing the roads and I answered all his questions completely and accurately. "Are you a Park Ranger?" he then asked me loudly. "No, I am a volunteer." "OH. Well then! We should be on our way. Let us let the VOLUNTEER get back to working her desk job," he laughed. Sigh. That happens more then I would like it to because I am not a Park Ranger, but I am use to people not taking me seriously. As a young college aged woman, it happens. I gave the granddaughter her badge and certificate for completing the junior ranger program and they left.

I didn't give it anymore thought until this morning when I went to check the conditions of the roads. I noticed immediately more rutting on the road. It continued all the way down to the ruins, tearing at the road, creating gaping holes filled with water and deep gashes that the 4-wheel drive high clearance government truck I was driving had a hard time crossing. I finally got down to the ruins, and quickly glanced at the trail register sheet before patrolling the ruins. I was surprised to see a sign-in dating yesterday. If I was a cartoon character, this is when steam would have started coming out of my ears. There, written on the sheet, was the same name I wrote on the junior ranger certificate the day before. It was the elderly couple and their granddaughter. Seriously? It is one thing if you go down the roads before entering the visitor's center, before you knew that we closed them. But to talk to me, to listen to me tell you the roads were closed, to have me explain to you why we close the roads, and still STILL travel down them! It was such a slap in the face. I felt so disrespected that an elderly couple, grandparents!, would do something the National Park Service told them not to just because it was a volunteer, and not a official Park Ranger, who told them. I can not explain how frustrating it is. Some people will do whatever they want to do, regardless of common courtesy or common sense.

It is not necessarily the concern over the roads which bothers me the most, but the nature of the act. Right now, I am trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. All I know is that I want to make a difference. How can I make a difference if visitors won't even listen to me? If there are still some people who won't listen to anyone, who keep plodding on their way regardless if it is wrong because they want to and because they don't care? Sigh. Frustrations.

I hope this doesn't bring any readers down. I just wanted to voice my disgruntled feelings. Hopefully tomorrow will be much better. Hope everything is well on the east coast! Miss everyone loads!