State Park Volunteers

We're at our new home on Honeymoon Island State Park, all uniformed and ready to work.

May 1 took Jo and me to Honeymoon Island State Park, on the blue-green Gulf of Mexico, just north of Clearwater and St. Petersburg, Florida. We have been hired as park volunteers for two months.

Jo looks pretty smart in her uniform since her job is to be a toll taker at the entrance to the park for 20 hours a week. I, on the other hand, dress down because I wander the beaches (4.5 miles of them) and keep the park clean. We have been provided a really nice camp site, with full facilities, even including free laundry.

Honeymoon Island once was called Hog Island. It is a long barrier island that protects the mainland of Florida from the encroaching sea. In the 1920s, a major hurricane came through the area and split the island in two, creating Hurricane Pass. The other island, to the south, is called Caladesi Island which also is a state park and can only be reached by a shuttle ferry.

Jo and I visited Caladesi Island this week as part our orientation. It is a pristine place with incredible beaches. Lots of wading birds were wandering the shore and we will return several time this summer to explore the nature trails.

Our park is the busiest day visitor park in the state. We have more than a million visitors passing through the gates each year. No public camping is permitted in the park. But the beaches are exceptional. As we cycled around the park last night, we came upon an army of fiddler crabs, marching across the road. Many had previously been squashed by cars as they made the march to the dunes. Jo and I stopped on our bikes and watched as hundreds of the little crabs crossed the road, one large claw in the air in front of them as that walked sideways.

My first day of work began at 7 this morning. I reported for duty and was assigned a ranger who took me around the park. We cleaned the bathrooms (they were perfectly clean already) and we picked up barrels of  trash, plastic bottles and aluminum cans. It also was great to get the ranger's insight into life in the park.
He explained that most of the vehicles in the park are in their last legs because the state has little funding for repairs - or anything else. Hence we are hired to help the rangers at no cost to the state apart from the electricity we use.

He mentioned that rangers are not in the job for the money. He said, as a point of reference, if you are a ranger with one child you are eligible for food stamps because the pay is so low. It was clear he loved his job, though, and he saw the greater good that was provided by having the state park system. I'm not naming him so his honesty will not cause him any problems.

Jo has just left for her first day of training at the entrance gate. She's going to have to learn the computer system which offers her some trauma. But I have every expectation she'll be a whiz at it in a few days.
Stay tuned for updates on the adventure.