Day 1 of Volunteer Naturalist Training

I just started volunteering for the Boulder Country Parks and Open Space Department. Why? My coworkers keep asking me this. Why would I give up my time for no money at all? Am I crazy?

Well of course I am but that’s not why I chose to do this. Actually it hadn’t even crossed my mind until I spoke with a guy I know from the salvage yard I work at. I got into a conversation with Dave and found out that he’s a master blacksmith!? What?! I’ve always wanted to learn how to blacksmith.

I love the metal arts and just recently found out that my mother’s maiden name, Gloisten, means “Glowing Stone” in German. My grandfather told me that our family came from a long line of smiths! So of course I asked Dave how I could get involved with smithing and he was very excited for me to get to work with him. The catch… his studio is actually owned by the County of Boulder. It’s up at the Walker Ranch Homestead and in order for me to start working with him I’ll have to sign up as a volunteer with the county.

I got right on contacting the head of cultural volunteering and she told me that I would have to volunteer for a year before getting into that program. And that I better sign up for whatever I’d like now. Looking through the extensive catalog of volunteer opportunities I fell in love with the Volunteer Naturalist position.

It pretty much means I get to take a 10 week intensive training with the county with a bunch of really cool people and learn a ton about our local ecology and then go on hikes with kids and adults to teach them about our ecosystems! That seems like a lot of fun, rewarding, and I get to learn a heck of a lot about our ecology. Call me a dork, but I’m all in.

The first day of class was mostly an introduction to the other 20 or so people in the class and to learn a short history of Boulder County and our parks. I might be the youngest person there… maybe… most everyone else is retired. And let me tell you these people are so interesting, knowledgeable, and wise. I’m so excited that I keep putting myself in situations where I’m the “dumbest” one in the room! (:

I have so much to learn in this program and also about life from all the amazing people I’m taking the course with. I’ll try to update you each week about what I’ve learned in class. Keep an eye out. There are some really cool topics coming up!