08 Jun Settling into the Rhythm of Things

Saludos, I am done with my training now! Yesterday I completed my First Aid and CPR certification training, and am ready to (hopefully) handle whatever comes my way while here at work and maybe in life. Now, since I am done with the training, that means I start to get into the normal schedule that I will have for the summer and to get into the rhythm of work. Today, for example, there was a group of German students from the military station just a couple of miles east of us who came to get their Junior Ranger books signed. They were all very sweet and I loved hearing them tell me about what they saw and the fun that they had in the dunes. Moments like those reinforce to me that I want to work with children in some capacity.

On my day off, I went to the Organ Mountains and the farmers market in Las Cruces. It was so nice to hike a little bit in the mountainous areas, since I’ve spent so much time in dunes in the park. Two storms started to make their way on either side of us so we had to cut the hike short, but the views were still breathtaking. I am very grateful to be working in such close proximity to mountains, but also the white dunes, and want to make sure that I explore more when I have the chance this summer. Also, at the farmers market there were a lot of pretty local crafts and that gave me more of a sense of the culture and people in the area. The chile wreaths were definitely something I hadn’t seen before, but it was a very fitting kind of craft for the area. Something that I am excited about this week is that on Friday will be the Full Moon Night event that happens once a month in the summer. There is going to be a live concert by the local band, the 1st Armored Division’s country band-Iron Outlaws. From what I’ve heard, there are going to hundreds of people and I will be doing parking duty, so I hope that the chaos stays to a minimum. It should be fun, though, and maybe I’ll get to enjoy a little bit of the concert myself. There are a lot of projects on the horizon too, so planning those are going to make for an intense month. ~Angelica