What a Day!

 

 

It has been over two years since I volunteered for the Monument.  The jobs that I did as a volunteer are now done by seasonal or full time staff and other volunteering jobs have not yet been rolled out.  Every once in awhile there are opportunities and late last week I got an email asking if I could volunteer on Wednesday,  I said "yes" knowing that it might just be a time for me to do a few things on my computer that needed to get done.  

To get ready for today I went to the Park office and got a few little updates and a new shirt.  I got a number to call if I needed help.  I left confident and ready to step back into a job that I had done several times a week for a couple of years.  It was so refreshing, easy and predictable showing up mostly in Millinocket but sometimes in Patten, to "staff"  the contact station.  I loved answering questions, asking about what brought people here and what they were hoping to do.  There were lots of people in that first years. You would not believe how many people care deeply about having their NPS Passport book stamped.  People recognized how great to have a stamp from the newest unit in the National Park Service, Katahdin Woods and Waters.  

There are not quite as many visitors now as in that first year, still 8-10  people come to the Patten Lumberman's Museum Contact station each day we are open.  Today I have had 2 visitors from Calgary, Canada.  

I am almost done with my shift.  I thought that my "job" was going to be writing this blog, but when I arrived at the Museum I got a text that there was going to be another Wolfden Mining Project meeting - tomorrow!  So that started phone calls, emails, making a flyer --- I have lots that I could say about Wolfden Resources and their plan to mine on Pickett Mountain, but that is for another day.  I do want people to get information, lots of information and not just from Wolfden.  I am doing what I can to make sure that people are aware of what is being proposed, what is happening right now, and what is being asked of our towns all along the Scenic Byway from Sherman to Moro Plantation.

I was so flabbergasted about the Wolfden meeting, I forgot that I had a zoom call.  I missed it and I got a text wanting to know if I was ok....too many balls tossing in the air, and I don't juggle very well.  I really never did, and I sure don't do it well at all.  Actually, I try to not have to do juggling ever these days, but this week I am failing that goal miserably.  So...

 My next stop is Millinocket Regional Hospital for my mammogram (it is my regularly scheduled one nothing worrisome)!  I am stopping to see a few folks on the way to Millinocket and the way back home.  

It is a full-up day.  These August days seem to speed up, they have lots packed into them, and the daylight is noticeably shorter.  People talk about summer almost being over, and I don't want to hear about that.   It does feel like there is alot of "cramming" one more thing into the day.

So, before I find that there is one thing on my today plate.  I am finishing this blog.  I will pack up my computer and get in the car.   It is cloudy so the mountain will be hiding as I head south, then east, then north with a pit stop at one of favorite take out places!  

It is Wednesday,  middle of my birthday week.   I am feeling alive, well,  and a little discombobulated. (such a fun word to use)  Good news, I have been breathing deeply as I type.  I do remember that I have all the time I need.  And I just finished my blog for today.  

Thanks for reading.