Today we start a three-day off period. Our working schedule has been changed to Thur. through Sun. with Mon through Wed being off days. Two new volunteers started last week. They are young, and we are told they are seasonal NPS folks who are keeping their names alive by volunteering. One is living in NPS housing at the south end of the park and will mostly work at the Rainbow Forest Museum which means I probably will not be going south quite as often. Shannon and I seem to be opening and closing the Painted Desert Inn, roving to Puerco Pueblo, and having project time. So far, project time consists mostly of going through training materials and trying to get smarter. I didn’t think old grey matter would absorb any more smarts, but it does.

We are told there is a lot of wildlife in the park. Pronghorn, bobcats, mule deer, coyotes, jack rabbits, prairie dogs, many species of lizards and snakes, and a more than adequate representation of the insect world. We often hear coyotes, but the most obvious fauna is the raven. It is curious what big, black birds are doing trying to make a living in the desert, but it seems to be working for them. They will seek the shade of buildings and cars to keep from overheating, and a raven will pant like a dog to cool down. At almost every stop there are usually a couple of ravens hanging about, and they are very friendly. Feeding of animals is prohibited, but most visitors are adults and we all know adults don’t read or follow directions. And so, it’s fun to be greeted by the ravens especially early in the morning when I am roving and no one is around. At Puerco Pueblo the ravens seem to me to be surrogate spirits for the people who lived there 800 to 900 years ago.

I am always amazed at the way things learned in the past but forgotten for many decades all of a sudden appear again at the appropriate time. Courses I enjoyed the most when I was in school at CSU during the 1960’s were courses with a plant identification component. And so, I have things tucked away in my brain from those days waiting to once again see the light of day. When we first came to the SW this year, we were out hiking and Shannon asked what a particular shrub was. I said “fourwing saltbush.” These are two words I probably have not uttered in 40–plus years. Sure enough, the plant was a fourwing saltbush.

Another time I said that a grass reminded me of Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama). Sure enough it was the correct identification and scientific name. Now, if I can only remember what day of the week it is and where exactly we are that day... But that’s a retirement problem, and I am glad I have that particular problem.