Have you been back since?
Well, I was up at the park last week and I just went up there for two reasons, Number one, to see if I could borrow some slides. But the second thing was to see if that emotional response was still there. I wanted to see if I was insulated enough and time had healed the wounds. But the wounds are still there. To go up there, say by myself, is very, very difficult. So consequently, I think Diamond Lake is probably as close as I want to get. However, I might say that if I went up there maybe with another person, where I could talk, you know, and share experiences, it might be less stressful.
As far as interpretative operations are concerned…. Well, let me say one thing too. When I arrived at the park and about midway through the season, I asked Dick Brown “Why did you guys hire me, what I had in my application that made you feel that I’d be qualified to be a naturalist?” And he said, “Well, you did put down that you taught science.” Well, I did teach science at the junior high level there in Redwood City, but I was not a full-time science teacher. As far as my science background from the University of Washington was concerned, I had three courses, two geology courses and one meteorology course. So, I really was, how should I say, a self-made naturalist. Self-made in this respect. I owe a great debt of gratitude to Dick Brown, who was extremely patient with me, would take me out in the forest and identify trees, plants and birds gave me a lot of material to read, encouraged me to hear other people’s evening campfire programs, and this sort of thing (1). Basically, in that respect, I am not a book-trained naturalist. I’m more an eclectic type of person who owes a debt of thanks to many, many past naturalists that I borrowed from and incorporated a lot of their material. I did lean toward programs that emphasized a human type activity like the Indian life of Klamath Basin, Indian legends of Crater Lake, human history of Crater Lake- I think I called it “Crater Lake through the Years.” Things of that nature. I did become very comfortable with the geology and the volcanology up there, and I feel very adequate in those areas, and also mammals. I feel less adequate in flowering plants and birds, but I think I can hold my own in other areas.
