Tweet or Twit or Whatever

by Sandy Kellogg

Aquatic Operations Supervisor, Mount Vernon RECenter

Fairfax County Park Authority

VRPS Aquatics Resource Group 2016 Chair
VRPS 2016 Awards Co-Chair

We all joined parks and recreation for a reason. Some of us chose it in college, thrilled there was actually a major for something we loved. Some of us drifted in, one stop along the way for county government, state positions or Rec center promotions. One thing I hope we all share, however, is the experience of being out there, of the trails and the views, the peace and beauty, the sense of catharsis and calm that only nature can bring.

Lock along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park

Our world has gotten so much smaller. There are so few times when we are completely unplugged. Our devices go with us everywhere, and NO SERVICE is becoming harder and harder to find. Even when we are cut off from the Internet and our world most people I see out on trails are still plugged in. Music, podcasts, even the search for the perfect selfie to be uploaded as soon as we are back in technology cuts us off from the experience. We completely lose the sense of oneness, the sound of approaching rapids, the birds and squirrels, the breeze. 

I see it in our youth when we take them outside. Next time you have a group outdoors have them leave all technology behind. Sometimes it can take several hours, but eventually they give in and start looking around, breathing deeper and even talking to one another! Real words too, not just texts or emojis. Deep conversations, not limited to 140 characters.

Ironically, I'm writing this sitting on a rock overlooking Great Falls, on the incredible Billy Goat Trail. Time to power down, unplug, and get hiking. See you on the trails! Hopefully you will recognize me, I'll be the one without headphones.

Great Falls Park

They Got This

by Sandy Kellogg

Aquatic Operations Supervisor, Mount Vernon RECenter

Fairfax County Park Authority

VRPS Aquatics Resource Group 2016 Chair
VRPS 2016 Awards Co-Chair

It’s hiring season in the aquatic world.  That means explaining to many young people what a W-4 is, how many deductions they should claim, what a deduction is, heck sometimes even what taxes are!  Teaching a 15 year old how to plan for their financial future is challenging.  Getting parents to let me do that without hovering is almost impossible!  Our industry is very strange.  In the eyes of the rest of the world, the 15 year old that walked into the pool office is a child.  They can’t do anything.  No driving license, no cigarettes, no car rental, no drinking, they can’t even stay at work past 7 pm.  Children, leaving freshman year at high school, and reporting to work at a pool.

I find this in another area of my life, too.  Once a month and one week in the summer I report.  No, not the National Guard, I’m a Boy Scout leader.  My troop camps once a month and goes to summer camp every summer.  We do a huge variety of activities.  I have rafted class 3 rapids with a 14 year old steering the boat.  I have climbed rock walls with a 13 year old on belay.  I’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with an 11 year old while we shoot at targets and remind one another to keep guns down range.  Most dangerous thing?  I’ve eaten food cooked on an open fire by a patrol that had to be shown how to use a can opener.

These things have more in common than you might think.  When I go home at night, leaving my facility in the hands of these children, or when I back slowly over that cliff face, I am putting my mental and physical health in their hands.  They are adults for me.  They are absolutely defined that way in what we do and why we do it.  A lifeguard, even at 15, that does not feel the adult burden of the lives at their feet should not be there.  A scout, tracking my progress up the cliff that does not understand the serious consequence of being distracted should not be on belay.

The best part about working with these young people is that they can absolutely handle it.  They are told so often in their lives that they are too young, not mature enough, and need adults to walk them through things.     Parents show up with folders of documents that their children have never seen.  Their children sign social security cards that are still in envelopes.  Scouts show up with bags that their parents packed, equipment they had never seen before.  Fortunately, in both worlds, I can say to parents “You can go now”, and the children step up as adults, keeping swimmers, themselves, their troop and sometimes even me safe.  Don’t worry, they got this.  

Spring Plowing

by Todd Brown

Site Operations Manager, Resource Management Division

Fairfax County Park Authority

VRPS Northern Service Area 2016 Chair

One of a farmer’s favorite chores is spring plowing.  A farmer looks forward to the day he can hook up his tractor to the plow and spend that day traveling back and forth at ten miles per hour turning over the soil. It gives the farmer a chance to reflect, evaluate, plan, organize, and appreciate what he has.  As the farmer checks the tractor’s fluids, drops the hitch pin between the tractor and the plow, and makes adjustments to the plow, he is filled with anticipation and excitement for a new year.

The spring planting is really the farmer’s New Year. It is the time when he puts the past year away and begins his plans for the next year. Plowing is the first step in getting this year’s crops in the ground.  Although the farmer has been working on the crop fields since fall by spreading manure, planting a cover crop to prevent erosion, and taking soil samples to determine the quality and amount of nutrients in the soil, plowing is actually when his plans begin to take root.

As the farmer pulls his tractor out of the farmyard with the plow squeaking behind him, he sees the newborn calves, lambs, and other offspring from the winter’s months playing and grazing in the pastures and paddocks.  The pride he has from the animal production is quickly replaced with the worry, “How am I going to feed all of these little mouths?”  He knows he needs a good crop of corn, small grains, or hay to offset rising farm costs.  He puts those thoughts aside as he approaches the crop field. He knows he has all day to think about all that stuff.

Plowing is a fairly simple task. Well, if it is done right, it is simple. All the farmer has to do is set the plow at the correct depth and at the correct angle for the type of soil.  That insures that the soil will be turned at the correct depth to put weeds and unwanted growth underground while keeping the valuable topsoil towards the top.  Once the settings are correct, he has to make sure the tractor travels at the correct speed. He wants the dirt to be thrown into the previous furrow (ditch) and not back into the furrow the plow just cut. But the most important thing about plowing is to make sure the first row is plowed straight. You will never see a farmer concentrate more than he does when plowing that first row. He picks a point at the far end and stares at it until he gets there.

After the first row is plowed, he picks up the plow, turns the rig around, puts his tractor front tire in the empty furrow, drops the plow, and returns back to where he started. Depending on the size of the plow, he continues this procedure many, many, many times. This is when all the good thinking comes in. He reflects on last year and plans for the upcoming year. Yes, those plans have been made, but now is the time to make critical adjustments. As he turns around periodically to make sure the plow is still performing correctly, he realizes that all of his incredible plans are only one drought, animal illness, or drop in market price away from possible disaster. Still, the farmer and the tractor move on.

As the day advances, and his head goes around and around in thoughts good and bad, he always comes back to the same thought. He is thankful to still have the opportunity to ride on that tractor. New soil now covers his old field. New beginnings now fill the old farm, and new appreciation fills his old heart.  As he returns to the farmyard with a stiff neck and a sore back, he sees all the animals waiting for him like  lost friends. Actually, they want their dinner.  After evening chores and closing up for the day, he sits down for his dinner. His wife asks, “How was your day?” On plowing day, the farmer always says, “Great.”

See our farmers plowing the crops fields at Frying Pan Farm Park in Herndon, VA. Some crops are already in the ground. Corn, hay, and other small grains will be planted this spring and harvested this summer and fall.  These crops produce grain and hay to feed the park’s farm animals. 

Office Space

by Sandy Kellogg

Aquatic Operations Supervisor, Mount Vernon RECenter

Fairfax County Park Authority

VRPS Aquatics Resource Group 2016 Chair
VRPS 2016 Awards Co-Chair

As an aquatic professional, time at a desk should be limited.  The pool deck and pump room are much more interesting than time in front of a computer!  I spend a lot of time repairing, supervising, testing, cleaning and inspecting.  I am, however, extremely proud of my workspace.  When I started my current position I was shown to my desk.  It’s a good sized desk, with file cabinets on both sides, and several cupboards for binders and catalogues.  It was where it was that surprised me a little.    My office is the corner of the lifeguard office.  Yes, I work at a desk in the same office that people come to ask about lost and found, where lifeguards sit while off chair, where patrons look for instructors, and even where first aid emergencies are brought.  I’ve seen it all!  I’ve cleaned blood off the floor while doing schedules, showed patrons our enormous collection of lost and found while verifying payroll, and assisted in a rescue while interviewing a prospective lifeguard.

What I am most proud of in my workspace is my ‘love me’ wall.  Every conference, certificate, ribbon, name tag and award is represented up there, it’s getting really crowded!  And while I am very proud of all of those things I am more proud to have them up there.  My staff sees them every day they come to work.  They notice when something new goes up, and we always talk about where I have been and what I have done. While I appreciate their support, it is more important that they see what these things mean.  They mean I am a professional, someone who takes what we do and why we do it very seriously.  I have a profession, a career, even a calling, and it’s all represented right there in the guard office.  Lifeguarding can be a temporary summer job, maybe the last year of high school, but it can be so much more.  It can be an amazing career path, a chance to make a difference in people’s lives, to run a facility where child mortality from drowning is reduced through swim instruction.  I continue to learn, grow, teach, write and develop as a professional and I’m proud that they can witness that. Perhaps for some of them Parks and Recreation can mean a chance to have a profession in work that they love, and in work that is worth doing.