Milton and Mane

Where Curiosity Leads

• Steve Krokoff and Christy Weeks • Season 2 • Episode 3

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Sometimes the best conversations don't follow a trail map.

In this episode of Milton and Mane, host Christy Weeks sits down with Milton's own Ranger Jen, Outdoor Recreation Supervisor Jen Young, for a conversation that starts with nature and goes wherever curiosity leads.

From seeing the outdoors through a child's eyes to rediscovering it as adults, we talk about the small things we often overlook, why there's value in slowing down, and how spending time outside can change the way you see the world around you.

Whether you've joined one of Ranger Jen's programs, enjoy exploring Milton's parks, or simply need a reminder to step outside, this episode offers plenty of stories, laughter, and perspectives that might make your next walk a little different.

You may even find yourself noticing something you've passed by a hundred times before.

With the community in mind, this podcast explores the stories, people, and initiatives that make our community unique. Each episode offers insights into local government, highlights Milton's history and future developments, and showcases the vibrant arts, culture, and sustainability efforts shaping our city. Join the conversation, celebrate our community, and discover how we're building a better Milton together.

Do you have an idea for an episode or would like to request a specific topic to be covered? Email Christy Weeks, christy.weeks@miltonga.gov

Learn more about the City of Milton at www.miltonga.gov. 

Welcome And No-Script Setup

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to Milton and Maine, the official podcast for the city of Milton. We want to bring you closer to the heart of our community through stories that inform, inspire, and connect. Each episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the people, projects, and priorities shaping Milton, covering everything from local government and future development to arts, culture, sustainability, and public safety. Whether you're a resident, a local business owner, or just curious about our city, this is your front row seat to what makes Milton special. Welcome back to Milton in Maine, the podcast where we explore the people, places, and stories that make Milton such a special community. I'm Christy Weeks, the communications manager for the City of Milton. Today's guest is someone who has become a favorite of our listeners. You know her as Ranger Jen, but her official title is Outdoor Recreation Supervisor for the City of Milton. Please welcome back Jen Young.

unknown

Woo!

SPEAKER_00

Woo! Cheers, all the thanks. Now, when I tell you there is no script for today's episode, I mean there is no script. There are no notes, no prepared questions, just a conversation. And honestly, this may be the only guest I could ever bowl that off with. So let's be clear. I generally don't have a total script for my other episodes, but what I do have is an outline of the topic. So there's always a guiding light if we need to refocus and come back to topic. Not today. Not today, Miss Jen. Unfettered talking time. I know. But I do know our topic. And today's episode from Jen, this is how she is building her subject matter, is coloring outside the lines, a naturalist field notes on seeing nature like a child. Now, I don't know about you, but that caught my attention because Lord knows I need to see things differently sometimes. We're not gonna get into that one. I I know I'm not alone. So we're gonna see where this conversation takes us, which is usually the best kind of conversation when Jen is involved.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you. You're giving me way too much credit.

SPEAKER_00

No, it's it's not credit, it's just the nature of conversations with you. They they normally don't stay on topic, they encompass many different aspects from wildlife to nature to how you plan things out for your programs. So anyway, grab your coffee, take a walk, do whatever you gotta do, settle in, and let's get into this. Jen, welcome back. Yeah, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01

I um just before we started this podcast for the listeners, I had one of those squirrel moments where I ran down the hallway to tell two wildlife stories to our deputy city manager because I always know she's up for a good time to talk about nature. Always. And if I share a story, she always has photos and a story of her own. And next thing you know, I'm like, I gotta go. I have a podcast.

SPEAKER_00

She goes, I have a meeting. Oh, darn, it's that time. Well, let me tell you how my morning rolled. Yeah, because I had forgot we were recording today. I'm not gonna lie, there's a lot of things going on in this little tiny space up above. And I'm driving to work and I'm like, okay, going down the checklist. I gotta do this. And I went, ah, it's podcast day.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And it just changed the entire perspective of how I approach my day because this is fun. Uh-huh. And I always learn something, whether I wanted to or not. Sometimes, sometimes it's not voluntary. Yeah. It's just information you absorb. Like I'm learning more about plants than I ever have in my entire life. We know that I do not have a green aura or a green thumb. You can tell by my window seal that nothing over there survives. The oxana's keeping them alive. Uh well, I I am keeping my orchid alive.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, okay. I'm just saying. And I got mine to bloom. She might secretly be fertilizing. She's not.

SPEAKER_00

Hers is dying. It's outside here. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Throwing shade. I like it. Yep. Just saying. I can grow an orchid. I can grow children. Yeah. Those are the two hardest things to grow. Cats. I got a very large cat. Oh, yeah, I don't, I don't do those. That too. Needs a lot of love and attention. Yeah, I don't. I don't have it. I don't go outside.

Kids Lead The Wild Walk

SPEAKER_00

So let's let's talk about how this whole topic came about. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I love I love this topic. When it came to my mind, I already knew I could talk about it for days because my entire job is this perspective of seeing things from a childlike perspective. And when you asked me to come on again, it was right around the time that I was hosting one of my Wild Walk Wednesdays. And Shannon, our city arborist, was leading this hike to talk about some trees in the forest. And we already knew we had some rare gems at Providence Park. And I was like, Shannon, I'm really excited to show the public what an azalea looks like in the wild. Because how we're used to seeing them is these like low bushes and beautiful flowers, right? And they're manicured. In the wild, they're trees. Uh uh. Yeah. They kind of look like a crate myrtle when they have those like they don't look like a crate myrtle, but in terms of how you see things in nature, where they have like the long, right, thin growing branches, and you don't know what they are until they bloom. Like you're just like, oh, some sticks in the forest, and then they bloom for those couple weeks.

SPEAKER_00

And you're like, throw shade at the way I grow things.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, it's really how things are grown in nature. So you're doing a good job. Okay, all right, good. Um, so we were excited about this hike, and who showed up was a dad and his his two littles. And right off the bat, I was like, okay, so we're gonna have dad wanting to look at one thing, and kids are gonna be doing what kids do, and it's just off on an adventure. So I set some ground rules. I say, hey, you're littles, you guys look at the ground. Anything you see with color or is unique, point it out, bigs, yeah. You're looking up in the sky or across that, you know, horizon, you're looking for color or anything that's neat because it's spring and things are in bloom. Those kids led that hike that day. I kid you not, Shannon and I they kept going, what is this? And we're like, Oh my god, you found this really rare plant. Okay, cool. And now we're in a deep dive of looking at these really rare plants, photographing them, identifying them, and cataloging it because of the kids, not things that we found identified. Yes, they're low to the ground, but they also take direction really well, which adults generally don't.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. So I'm just I'm just throwing that one out there. But in defense of the adults, I'm just saying we are taller, yeah, so we have quite a distance, and some people are much taller than others. Eyesight is starting to fade. I'm just you can laugh, it's okay because I can see up close, but distance, and albeit I'm not enormously tall. That's right. Sometimes things are a little foggy, and then on the other hand, if I'm looking down, it's not to find things, it's to make sure I don't fall over things.

SPEAKER_01

And that is a perfect step right into learning how to look at the forest from a child's perspective. Trying not to trip. I get dizzy, go slow, look only on the edge. Safe. It's a safe bet. And and my other tip would be no poison ivy.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, well, somebody's gonna have to teach me how to identify that because I honestly wouldn't know. Oh boy. Oh boy, okay.

SPEAKER_01

I need to get you in the woods. We've talked about this before. You keep threatening me, is what you do. Well, you know, Monica downstairs at the front desk, she said, Jen, I have a feeling if we're friends, you're gonna make me go on walks in the woods. Yeah. I said, Um, well, I'm glad you understand our friendship right off the bat. And the answer is yes, you will. And she has asked me every week, when are you taking me in the woods? So she's excited for our friendship, and I hope you're excited for our wooded friendship.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Why did my mouth just go totally dry and I had the big gulp? Because I'm not gonna make you fish. We've already talked about it. Yeah, we did. I held a fishing pole. Yeah, I just don't have a fish. It's it's fine. I mean, I know I know other people, and I like fish in the water away from me. Sure. But I would prefer not to share space with them. Is it because they're not cute and cuddly? They're slimy and they smell. Okay. And for me, and this stems from a semi-fear of the ocean in the sense that there are things in there that I can't see, doesn't matter how much I look down. I cannot see them. And I don't like to share space with unknown entities. Right. All the way around. Like I don't know where where things could come from. Correct. And they might touch me. And they're bigger sometimes. And sometimes there's I was in the lake store quick story time.

Fear Of Fish And The Unknown

SPEAKER_00

I was in the lake last year, I think it was. And it was warm enough. You know, the fish are all kind of out, and I'm floating, I'm having a great time. And I'm like, all of a sudden I feel something. I was like, oh my god, what was that? And everybody stopped and looked at me, and it was they the fish come up and I you have never seen me move so fast as to remove myself from the water because I I don't vibe with that. That is not my favorite thing. Um however, I can appreciate them like at an aquarium. Okay. Sure. Or where I have a distance. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And if you don't eat fish, I don't, you don't have an appreciation. I'm fascinated with their world.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Are you? I am. What are you fascinated about in the fish world? The colors and the survival skills. Oh, okay. Right? Yeah. Survival skills are a thing. And when you start looking at what's out there, and this pertains to ground-based animals and mammals and things, you have to go, oh my gosh, it is literally truly the wild out there. Those those things are fighting every day for life. Yeah. And um, and it's a the ecosystem. And I did go through hunter safety years ago. I did use to hunt. It was not my favorite thing, but I can appreciate the need for it. Sure. Because you start understanding the ecosystem a little bit more and conservation and how to keep the herds healthy. Yeah. So I know there's a lot that goes into all of it.

Ecosystems And Wildlife Management Balance

SPEAKER_01

Wildlife management is an entire, it's a whole subset of folks similar in my field to what I do. Um, I just don't do wildlife management. But we have people across the street across the state that do wildlife management. And I have a lot of respect for them because it's not that you have to turn your brain off and all of a sudden not care about life. It's about preserving the life of those that are going to survive and those that are going to make it and creating the best environment you can for them.

SPEAKER_00

Balance population, yeah. All the things, because things can get out of whack. And once they're out of whack, it throws everything, everybody related, I say downstream, but down the line off.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that web exists for a reason. And when you pluck something out of the web or add too much to the web, uh, it's off balance, like you said. So I I will regularly call upon wildlife biologists across the state to understand what I might see in Milton a little bit more. Why are we seeing a lot more of this? Or why are we seeing less of this here? Right. Where would this be hiding? And it kind of helps drive my job of improving our green space environments or encouraging others to do that on their property. Like, do you want to see more of this species? Here's what we would plant, here's the kind of environment they need to have. And so it becomes like a lifetime study. You're you're forever. I mean, I thought about this yesterday. I was hiking to Providence to look at the wildflower meadow and see how it was doing with all the rain. And I stopped for a moment and I was like, I could study for a lifetime, several lifetimes, and never understand everything that's out in this one little space. And that's that can feel overwhelming sometimes, like you're forever just living in this bubble of knowing you don't understand something or things. But then it's also exciting for somebody like me who's like, oh, I could never get bored.

SPEAKER_00

And there's your there's your childlike moment. You're standing there by yourself, looking around, going, holy cow. Now make yourself three foot tall. Yeah. And think about how overwhelming. Oh, absolutely. But extremely enticing that world is.

Learning By Wandering Like Kids

SPEAKER_01

That's right. When I take kids out in the woods, even if it has an intended purpose of we're gonna look at decomposers or we're gonna look at birds, the space that I create for them to just explore and ask questions, I think is the most important part about the class. Like, yeah, I'll redirect us back to whatever the topic is at some point. But it's okay for us to veer off and be curious about oh, that hawk just flew over. Let's follow it and see what happens. And then we'll go talk about amphibians while we're down at the lake following the hawk. But they're all in. They don't go like, no, the topic is about amphibians, and I'm here to learn about amphibians. They go, my job. There we go. They they they never question it. They're like, Yeah, let's follow the hawk. What's the hawk gonna do? Right. And I'm here for that. I think that's the perspective that keeps my job alive and keeps it exciting every day is I really follow the hawk. I mean, that's like the metaphor I'm gonna use is um this cool uh phenomenon that's happening in nature. I'm gonna follow it and I'm gonna try to understand it and all the things around it, and then what makes it interesting to everybody else. And I want to point that out to them. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00

Well, here's the difference between you and me why you get to work with children and why don't. Yeah, there's just one difference. Just one difference. I am topic-oriented. So when kids start to get squirrely, because I at one point I did coach chair, I used to coach gymnastics, I had three children of my own, and my innate instinct is to go, hey, focus. We're talking about this because my fear is I don't know about that. Uh-huh. So I can't answer your questions over here, but I'm here right now. We can we are working on this. And that's that's the trajectory of my thought process. That totally, I think resonates.

SPEAKER_01

It resonates with a

Saying I Don’t Know Out Loud

SPEAKER_01

lot of people. And you know, it resonates so much with people that uh when I was taking my master naturalist class, the first class, Ranger Jonah, who did my uh Wildlife 101, he he said, I'm gonna give you this statement that I really need you to embrace. And that is, it is okay to not understand something in nature and tell the public as a naturalist. I'm curious about that too. Yeah. It is okay to not understand something that's maturity and go down the deep rabbit hole with the people. Sure. And I think that is what has helped shape what I'm doing here because I know the public looks to me to be the resident expert about a topic. And it is not out of my wheelhouse to become a resident expert on a topic should something come up that I need to really become an expert about. But it doesn't mean I just have that knowledge in my brain. So thank you, Google. No, I don't, folks, I do not Google. I do.

SPEAKER_00

Everything. Me and the Google were friends. And ChatGPT. Chat GPT. Friends. This is not an ad for that.

SPEAKER_01

But when I'm like interacting with the public, I was nervous up front because I thought, what if there's people on this hike and they point something out and I don't have an answer for that? Right. And so when he gave me that freedom to go, you know what, that's a good question. And I like that you're asking those kinds of questions. Let's explore that together. Let's try to figure out based on what we do know. Right. Because lots of things in nature, they come from a family, and that family tells us a lot about it, even if we don't know the exact species and all the things about it. And so the public's curiosity has only like expanded my curiosity about things because as they ask questions now, I'm like, oh, I want to know that too. Right. Why is that happening? What is that thing? And I've spent a lot of time taking my colleagues out into nature. I mean, Josh down in public works. Yeah. Anything that has to do with water, I'm like, Josh, come look at this. I'm seeing a really cool phenomenon. Can you explain it to me? You're the water expert. Or Shannon with the trees and plants. And she happens to be a little hidden gem that studied bugs her entire career. We we need her. She's she's my next target for this to talk to her. I mean, it is fascinating. She's leading a talk. I'm just plugging her in here real quick because she's leading a talk uh for the Young Farmers Association about bugs as it pertains to your crops. Oh. And so those that have gardens or um big plots of land. I mean, we deal with bugs killing our grasses and sod and affecting it, and funguses coming. And and so we've led talks like that before, but this is interesting to talk about how to deter bugs from certain crops and how can you do it naturally. So I always take her out to the parks and I'm like, tell me what's going on here, educate me, help me understand. So there's lots of lots of people who are a part of this whole system, right?

SPEAKER_00

There are, and people's reasoning for learning about them is always so that's the fascinating part to me. Is like I have, I think I've only met Shannon a couple times. Um, we work in the same building, different floors, our paths just don't cross very often. But I would love to know why she does what she does and how she got where she was. Like our IT director, he's fascinating. Do you remember that when we sat there? We've got this amazing IT director who is Mr. He's cybersecurity, he's all these different things. He's also an artist and he's a musician and he rides a motorcycle, and he has all these different facets. And when you look at him initially, you're like, eh, that's an IT guy. And then he has such a broad spectrum of interest that you're like, Oh, I wonder how that came about. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Some people wear their hobbies on the outside of the me. Yeah, like we could guess that you're just out on Lake Alatoon aboating on a Friday, Saturday. She's at work on Friday. Linear. Yeah, thank you. And um, and some people don't. Yeah. Some people you gotta crack them open to find out the cool things about them.

SPEAKER_00

You can tell by the look on my face what is happening that day. And it's mostly based on the weather. And I'll tell you, in the fall, it was late fall, and we were getting close to end of boating season, and the weather was getting ready to turn. And Jen looked at me and she said, I'm really concerned about you for the winter time. I knew what was coming. Yeah, she goes, Um your your mood and your emotional stability is at risk. Yeah, you need to find something else to do. Yes. I was like, what is your winter plan, friend? I don't have one. I hibernate. Yeah, but you're not a bear, so you don't. And that's I can act like one sometimes. Depends on the demeanor of the day. Anyway, but yeah, no, that's I'm very vocal about the things I like. And I don't, you know, you can ask me. I feel like I've lived a thousand lives, none as interesting as. Ashley, but I have held a gazillion different jobs in different areas. You know, flight attendant, CNA. Wait, I didn't know that you were a flight attendant. Flight attendant. What? When? Oh. Uh 1995 is when I transition.

SPEAKER_01

For me that you would be a flight attendant and you would you have a not a good one. No, I'm shocked, to be honest. Because you do have to be a little assertive and nice. And nice. And you're both of those. I can be. You have a very friendly appearance, then you can snap into uh no ma'am, no sir. Um not happening, I'm gonna need you to get this in order. Right. Wow, I'm shocked. You weren't a great one. Uh you know you weren't matured into that yet.

SPEAKER_00

It wasn't that I disliked the job itself. What I didn't do well with was the non-schedule because I was so junior that building a schedule happened at the moment. I mean, these are these are times when you had to call into somebody. You didn't just check an app or a website. Yeah, I had to call and and ask what my schedule was for the day at certain times. And uh you had you had a pager, uh-huh. You know, those back in the day.

SPEAKER_01

Are you allowed to say who you flew with?

SPEAKER_00

Uh yeah, it was American Trans Air, um, ATA, and we all had a nickname for it, and it wasn't American Trans Airlines, it was anytime. But it really what they were is they were cargo for many years, and then they got into kind of the vacation stuff. So we did, I mean, there was a lot of fun flights. I went to Ireland, I went to Panama, yeah. Uh, which was a trip all the way around because flying in, well, A, when we went to Ireland, we flew into Belfast in the 90s. It was still pretty dicey. Yeah. And so they're like, do not pass go, do not collect $200, get on the bus, and we're taking you to Dublin. Whoa. But it was the most beautiful scenic area. Talk about somewhere to look at trees and grass and bushes and things that live in nature. I mean, the green goddess. That is unbelievable out there. So, yeah, all those things. Health care. I worked in health care, I worked in addiction treatment.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Stay at home mom. That's my hardest one.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I think most moms would say that. The hardest job.

SPEAKER_00

So you would you would be proud of me for this, knowing how my brain ticks. My daughter was two, three years old, and I put her in a preschool in uh southern Orange County that was so very unlike me. It was very artsy, it was very hands-on. All the teachers were bilingual minimum. And so she was exposed to being able to make a mess, go outside, touch things, paint, rocks, all all the fuzzy things in the classroom, teachers that spoke different languages, because I knew I was not the one that could be able to expose her to that because I get so wound up about messes. Yeah. Yeah. But realizing how important nature is to children, yeah, you know, you're able to build these programs for them on their level so they enjoy it and it piques their interest. Yeah. And that's a gift. Yep.

SPEAKER_01

I think so too. I think uh it's a gift given to me at some point in my life, and I can't say where I got it, but what I know is I am authentic as I can possibly be with kids, meaning whatever I build for them, I also enjoy. It's not as though I'm building something for them that's rigid, and um there's a plan at which I feel a stress to execute because they need to pass this grade. That's the beauty of my job, is if you just walk away with a nugget of interest that leads you to the next place, that's all I'm here to do. I'm not here to teach you every part of the fish, how they operate, why they operate. I'm here to get you interested, to ask questions and and learn on your own as well. And most of my parents appreciate you.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, okay. Well, I guess that's something that in the chaos of the day sometimes get lost. Yeah. You know, and we all look back and go, Oh, I wish I would have enjoyed it more. Oh, I wish I could have spent a little more time. I think I did, I just don't remember in it any of it. You know, it was survival skills. Yeah.

Owls Birding And Wonder

SPEAKER_00

So when parents are able to take their children on a walk with you or bird birding. Oh, birding. Yeah, it's pretty simple. Words are hard.

SPEAKER_01

Well, bird viewing, I guess, would work.

SPEAKER_00

I I like birds. I like the big birds. My favorites are the owls, especially after that pre that uh wildlife 101 presentation. Oh, man. Fascinated with owls.

SPEAKER_01

I know. How could you not be? And then my last birding class, I brought owl or birds. Oh, yeah. Birds and I swear, like I can never go back to I don't know how I'm ever gonna be able to lead a birding class without bringing these giant birds because it was so amazing, right? And people really enjoyed it. I got to hold a bird.

SPEAKER_00

And I feel like they're kind of misunderstood, the big birds. You think so?

SPEAKER_01

How do people interpret them?

SPEAKER_00

I you just think of them, I don't know, like everybody's you see the eagle, and in Colorado, we had eagles' nests up by us. It was fascinating. They're predators, so the goal is is to not have a small animal that they would like to. Oh, I see what you mean. Yeah, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01

So from a layman's position, I mean you're like, I don't want my cat nabbed by an owl, right? That that age old story.

SPEAKER_00

Right. That's going to eat my things. But they're actually so ridiculously fascinating how they move their head, how they raise their young, how they build their nest, how they hear. How do they hear?

SPEAKER_01

They hear at such a rate um that a mouse making the tiniest movement under pine straw from several yards away. Yeah. They hear and they can geolocate and then silently move in to strike on that mouse. That's a large bird to move silently. Yeah. And that's what's cool about owls. And I think most people now have learned owls fly silent, they turn their head around, they're nocturnal species. Like these are the big bold things we know about owls. I loved Linda got into the weeds. Yeah, she did. Of how their head really moves, how their ears really work, how they what what is their actual prey? Because what you said in the beginning of this podcast is real. Opportunistic is really what you have to be when you're desperate to find food. Which, if you imagine you live in this great green world, right, that has a bunch of houses and neighborhoods in it, you're always desperate to find food. You're always looking for food. That is your full-time job. It's just finding food. And so to pick up a large cat or a dog, a small dog or a large cat is a lot of effort for them. Right. And they would, it would have to, the timing would just have to be perfect. Right. Finding a couple field mice in a field would be probably, I imagine, a lot easier for an owl or a hawk swooping down and getting fish out of a pond. I mean, that's fascinating. If we're catching a bunch of fish in a pond, they are definitely catching fish in a pond. So I always say follow the the blue herons. If there is a a resident heron on a pond, the fishing is good because they are even thought about eating. This is just my own observation. Um, when I see a heron in the area, then I know the fishing's good. I know they feel safe to fish there. And there's one on Providence Park. Even though people have a really hard time catching fish at Providence, the herons do not. They do white people have a hard time. Yes, I constantly watch them scooping up the fish that we're trying to catch.

SPEAKER_00

So well, we have uh out at the dock, you can always find these littles carrying these gigantic poles, especially in the evening time. Yeah. Um, because everybody wants to catch the striper.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And it's terribly hard for most people to fish on lanier. You you'll talk to people that said, I fished on linier my whole life and I never caught a fish. And then there's people that go out there and just know what they're doing, they know the areas, they know all the things. Yeah. And these little guys are running up and down the dock trying to get to the next slip where somebody just saw a striper pop. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01

And I'm like, well, understanding part the beginning part of my fishing class is all about the habitat of the fish we're

Fishing As Nature Science Practice

SPEAKER_01

trying to catch. What do they eat? We have to emulate what they eat in order to catch them. We have to understand where they live so we know where to find them. Then we pretend to be their bug or their worm or their tiny fish. And that's fishing. That's it. But it takes science because you have to understand the prey of which you are taking. There are a few other things to go with that. I'm just okay. Tell me more.

SPEAKER_00

Patience. Sure. You have to be humble about it. Know that there's a good possibility you're gonna walk away with a whole big fat do nothing. Yeah, empty. And for people with who are high overachievers, that's hard. That's that says you failed.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, well then the patience. I'm gonna give you the dad joke version, the dad expression of um, we're out here fishing, not catching. This isn't the game of catching, this is a game of fishing. So the hunt. In my mind, it's synonymous. I know. But I lead every class saying there's no guarantees, friends. Right, right. I mean, I'm not gonna go under the dock and put a fish on your hook. You have to catch it. But we're gonna fish. So we're gonna learn where they are, we're gonna learn about them, and we're gonna spend some time in nature uh as quiet as we can be. And that's the hard part when you're a kid. Oh, is being quiet. Yeah, it's impossible. Ranger Jen! Yeah, Ranger Jenny. Oh, I got one. Still Matthew, Matthew in our department. I think the highlight of his And he's not a child. No, no, Matthew's a grown man. He's a grown man. But he went on my first fishing class, my second fishing class with me. We were at Providence and it was packed. And in fact, Oksana posted a picture of that fishing class the other day because they were these two younger siblings to one of the kids in my class. They were wearing little Columbia shirts like I wear these fishing shirts. Dad was, yeah. Older sibling was. Um, and he said, Do you mind if they just fish over here on their own? I'm like, more the merrier. They were so into fishing more than anybody else in this class, that one of the little boys, he must have been three or four, he screams, Ranger Jenny, I got one. And that warmed Matthew's heart so much. He said, You have the best job in the world to have a kid screaming, Ranger Jenny, I got one. Which, by the way, if you call me Jenny, you're not gonna get a response from me unless you're that four-year-old kid.

SPEAKER_00

Noted. Yeah. So that means I cannot holler that across the office. Absolutely not. All right.

SPEAKER_01

But it's it's that kid, it was it was hilarious. Probably life to catch your first thing.

SPEAKER_00

Well, that's super exciting. I'm I may not be uh the person who loves that on the daily, but to watch a kid enjoy nature and fish, and uh my cousin grew up in Colorado and he was little, and you never knew what that kid had in his pocket. Oh and he's much younger than I am. I'm I think I'm a good, good 10, 12 years older than him. He'd walk up and he he's pulled snakes out of his pocket. He had a little cat skull in his pocket at his dad's wedding. He pulled it out of his little ducks. He's like, Look what I found. Okay, I dig. I mean, critters. He he was he's that kid. He's still that kid to this day, just enjoys all those things. He grew he has a beautiful garden, he's had rabbits, he's had emus, he's had all these different cool animals that he just absolutely loves. Yeah. It's it's literally innate in him.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, this is uh I I've met some people in my life that are rangers that definitely walked a different path than me. And I'm fascinated where it begins for everybody. And is it just in you from the beginning to want to spend your life? Um, you know, because these are not high-paying careers. Is it these are not being at the top of the food chain, I guess, in our world of like career-wise, but what they do bring is absolute joy and life balance for you and good perspectives.

SPEAKER_00

I'm just gonna say it's joy for them because it's the old adage if you are fine, if you can make your passion your work, you'll never work a day in your life. Right.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

And so that's how I view that is they were able to take something that they absolutely love and turn it into the career that supports them and and they enjoy every day of it. Yeah, even when the days are hard. Because they have hard days too.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, totally, totally. I was just talking about this last night. Um, we're we just finished wrapped up our like annual evaluations, right? Staff performance evaluations. And um, something that stood out that my boss wrote about me on there is my change agility and how easy, not easy, but how well I am able to like hit a roadblock and keep moving forward with a good attitude. And it's possibly because I don't find roadblocks in my area of working for the city that seem impossible to move around. Right. So it could be my perspective, but it also could be that this community absolutely loves nature and loves the concept of having big public green spaces. And so um, I rarely meet a roadblock that feels impossible to get around. And so I like that he mentioned that, but also I thought, okay, maybe I haven't been challenged enough in that arena.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I think that's now you're starting to take my perspective and and try and turn it into okay, how can I, what do I need to do? But I I don't think that that's it because you handle things that myself couldn't. Um I'm interested.

SPEAKER_01

I'm curious what that means.

SPEAKER_00

Um, I'm a social person. Yeah. I I am what I would describe as an introverted extrovert.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Like I do, I can dig both sides. And I I love going out and talking to people, but I also like that time I get in my computer where I'm creating something. Never thought I was a super creative person. Um, I'm constantly proving myself a little bit wrong, a little bits at a time. And again, that comes back to one of those many lives that I lived, that I, you know, I I acted. It's the most freeing experience in the world to get to pretend to be somebody else. At the same time, I uh working with data and numbers and things like that makes sense to me generally, or they used to up to a certain age. So I don't wanna I don't want to volunteer myself to analyze stuff all the time. But yeah, you know, I get it. That's that's part of it.

SPEAKER_01

So me sitting at my cubicle is a tough day for me. That is really like if I have had too much cubicle time, I I start to feel really antsy, yeah, a little anxious, which I don't think I have an anxious personality. You are the least anxious person I know. So I'm like, I gotta get outside. I feel like the work gets done in the streets for me. When I meet people in the community, I love when people invite me on hikes or invite me to their backyard. I think it's such a gift, the number of people in in Milton that have welcomed me to their little beautyscape. Yeah.

Residents Parks And Shared Stewardship

SPEAKER_01

Uh the first time, it was like the first couple months that I lived here, the wolves that once owned La Capani as we know it, um, and they still live on the little corner property, but they invited me in for coffee just to share this their story and all about the property. And it kind of set the tone, I think, for what I expected of residents here that we're gonna be in this collaboration. You give me the information, and I'm gonna do my best to preserve the land around you, next to you, or what you own, right? And it had followed because Mayfield Park, which is in downtown Crab Apple. Correct. One of the neighbors invited me in. She said, just come in. I want you to see your park from my property. So you know the importance that it has to me and the rest of the neighbors. Yeah. And I stood on her third floor balcony off of her living room, which she doesn't live there anymore. And we still check in once in a while, even though she moved away. I'll still hit her with a text every now and again and go, How are you doing up there? Milton still misses you, you know. But when I looked at my park from her perspective, I I did have new eyes. I really did. And it meant more to me to make sure that it preserved that beauty that she's looking for in her backyard because this is an extension of her backyard, right? And so I appreciate those moments where residents invite me in and give me their perspective and show me, hey, look at this really cool thing happening on my property, and your property could affect that, or your property invites that, and that's wonderful. So that's been the best blessing is that I get to be out in the community talking to the people. I get text messages on the weekly of people showing me cool wildlife that's happening all around here, and just thought you should know when they invite me on hikes. That's the greatest gift. They're like, Jen, I think I found something rare in the park, and I want you to come look at it with me. And we end up on a two-hour hike to find this little rare gem and usually not live the same life. I don't live the same life as really anybody here. I probably shouldn't have told everybody that. Um, I'm sorry for everybody who has to be in the chemical more than me.

SPEAKER_00

It's okay. We all we all live vicariously through you, Jen. And the stories. You're all welcome. Uh I'll make it out there. Uh I don't dislike the outdoors. I used to live in the mountains of Colorado. Yeah. I I do not dislike it. I I'm do not enjoy hiking Wong's Peak, yeah. Uh, or things like that. But being outside, it horses took me outside, and my animals took me out. My children. My daughter's a hunter. She just she just drew her tag for uh out west this fall, yeah. Out in Colorado, Innestus Park. Uh, she drew a buck tag, and this was the shocking information. She has been hunting since she was 15. She's getting ready to turn 27. Uh-huh. Every year she puts in for an elk a bull tag. Uh-huh. Now you can get over-the-counter stuff there. We don't do that. We go into the draw because there's a certain area that my family hunts because my uncle knows it like the back of his hand. He grew up there. She didn't get drawn. Again, she had 11 preference points. So every year that you put in, you get a preference point. So we were pretty sure she was going to draw. She did not draw her bulb her bull tag. That's crazy. She's like, I don't get it. Well, you know, it's it's all what the herds are doing. It's how DNR handles their, you know, it's a very popular place, and they do prioritize in-state hunters. Yeah. They do probably a little too much these days because the pendulum swung hard. It used to favor out of staters, which upset the in staters. And so the pendulum has swung hard one direction. And now, as an out of state uh resident, you cannot get a bull tag to save your life.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

So So you need to go buy her a house in Colorado? Just rephrase that. That's very important. Rephrase that one. I am done buying that child things. Yes. Understood in 27. Until she gives me a child. A grandbaby.

SPEAKER_01

Grandbabies are going to be different. Okay. These grandbabies are going to need a cabin. I'll start a GoFundMe. How do we all really we could really all exploit that for our parents when we're like, well, when we get the grandbabies, we're just we're gonna have to go to the beach a lot more to together as a family.

SPEAKER_00

Let me tell you what my parents did. My parents were the best for the children to live next to my dad's outside all the time. Living in Estes Park, we had our house was at the time when we moved up there. My parents lived on the other side of town, which was literally seven minutes from my house. Seven minutes. But I had to drive there. And so one day I got over there. I was like, you have got to move closer. I was joking. Right. They bought the property next to me. Wow. 44 acres right next to my property. That gave my kids quite the amount of space. And so we had a trail. We had the goat trail.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00

And I would call my dad, hey dad, kids are coming. And I would watch them come across the goat trail with the dog. So nobody got snagged by the mountain lion because we did have those. And um, my husband to this day still swears that I used to send my youngest out in a red sweatshirt just to flag out the mountain lions. It's like I did not. And they'd go out and they the archery, the hunting, the animals. And they had all this land works to run on. It was it was the best childhood for them because they learned a lot.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

You know, they were exposed to a lot of things.

Park History Campfires And Storytelling

SPEAKER_01

This is making me think about um an interaction I had with a resident who lives near Milton City Park and Preserve, an old homesteader. Well, she's not old, the homestead is. Yeah. And I had the most delightful conversation because she's like, Yes, this is my family's property, and that and that and that, all down these two roads, right? She's like, My parents live there, and my sister lives there. And and she said, Someday my kids will probably live in my house that I have right here. And so her commitment and investment to staying there and keeping that a family property, they know it better than anybody. Like if I said, Hey, what used to happen here, she could tell me a couple generations back what it looked like. Oh, yeah. Or how they would get down to the river to fish. If properties could talk. Oh my gosh. We could write a whole book. Books I love that. Libraries. Yeah, I love that. Chapters of um properties that talk around here.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, because the history out here is is crazy. And I've only been out here for nine years, but this area, you know, I it's absolutely fascinating.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So much so that I looped in the Historical Society to write the history of each and every one of our parks. Oh, that's amazing. And going back, back, back, back. And so it the story that is unfolding about each one of the parks, it's not just lure. Even though that is one of my favorite parts about taking people on tours of the parks is really giving them the human existence on the property, too, because it tells a lot about why nature looks the way it does as we see it today. You know, these skinny trees are all here and skinny because this was once a meadow, and here's what we did here. Right. There were crops or we had um horses on this property. And so, as they're riding it, I feel this energy that they're getting about Milton because they're like, wow, guess what we learned about Birmingham Park? And I'm like, what did we learn? And now we go out there and we try to find artifacts and plants that just reinforce the story that we're learning. And so I can't wait to share with the public on a tour with a campfire, eating s'mores, and letting people look at the land and learn all about it. And if you're not a history buff, maybe you're a plant person, or maybe you just want to enjoy your neighbors with a campfire and some s'mores, and all of that is okay. Whatever gets you out there gets you out there, and we're good with that.

SPEAKER_00

Safety around campfires. Yeah. Yeah. Is that a question? Oh, or a statement? It's a statement. I'm just doing my my PSA for fire warning.

SPEAKER_01

When I campfires have been around since the beginning of humans, right? Supposedly, yes. And I hope we don't lose the art of people sitting around fires.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, we do it in the summertime everywhere. We have uh a fire pit in the back, you know, completely contained, and that's where we all gather. Me and my neighbors gather. It is a gathering space, it's just fun, it's where stories come out, it's where you know the kids come. My neighbors' kids come over and sit with us. Now we're funny people, but we're not that funny. That helps. It helps keep them there. They're gonna come. Oh, it's just it's just the greatest thing. So you're right.

SPEAKER_01

Campfires are they're communal and everyone can enjoy it, and they're useful to bring people together, right? And so that is an essential part of this storytelling that I want to keep alive. Um, also, I think hearing a story about a glow of the fire, it's like you're try in a trance. Well, you're focused.

SPEAKER_00

You're yeah, the outside world is no longer chatting at you.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's right. And you kind of have this um sensory deprivation of like it's dark around you, so all that you can focus on is what is in the light, and that is the people and the story being told. Right. And that it that draws people in. So lat two years ago when I had a night hike in a campfire, we had 250 people show up. That's insane. I did not know that. It was so overwhelming for my poor staff team because we have people in the dark that we're trying to manage in a fun, safe way. And thankfully we did. We did a great job, but uh we were like, yeah, we need to. Are we doing any of those this year? So that's the plan with these intentional campfires. Yeah. Where they'll be smaller, yeah, more intentional. You'll have a theme, and that way we can feel less overwhelmed while doing it and actually enjoy the experience with people.

SPEAKER_00

That's really cool.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So we will, so we'll kick off a fall series. Um, I love that. And Jeff Dufresne from the Historical Society. I'm kind of regressing a little bit. He was on this podcast last year. Yep. And we did a total of three episodes, and the man is full of the most amazing information. And I feel like I asked really dumb questions just because I'm not a Georgian native. Right. And so the history and the development of the Milton area was really intriguing to me. And uh, he was he was fabulous. So if you are a history buff and you want to go back and check those out, it's last season is Jeff Dufresne. There's three episodes. There's part one, two, and three. Yeah, highly recommend them.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I I mean that man, I bring him up quite often, usually in the mushroom world. That was fun. Yeah. I talk to him about I I usually refer people to this model um that Jeff has because I love his property, I love his mission, I love the work that he's doing. And he built an incredible house with an incredible property. So to me, it's like uh someday people are gonna look back on that property and go, wow, what was going on here? Right.

SPEAKER_00

What was this person doing? And if I know Jeff, he's gonna write a whole book about it. There you go. So people can fully reference it. Yeah, complete with mushroom lookup. Yeah, Pax Dumas. Pax Dumas, yeah. Wasn't that the name of his property? Yes, he's the one that convinced me that lion's mane is the way to go.

SPEAKER_01

Is the way to go.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I have yet to do it because I don't know. I don't I paid attention, but I didn't pay attention. Understood. But I you need a deep dive on that one thing. Absorb that. So that there's there is still a good amount of curiosity there. You know, I'm gonna tell you something because when we started this particular episode, you know, we we said the topic is coloring outside the lines, you know, naturalist field notes on seeing nature like a child.

Authentic Joy And Following The Magnet

SPEAKER_00

And yes, we touched on that, but let me tell you what I really pulled out of this. You see your world, job included, from the perspective of a child, you see things in a way that not everybody has the privilege of doing or has the ability to do. Because when you're sitting across from Jen Young and she's talking about all these things, you see her eyes light up and her little eyebrows go up and down because she's generally excited about all these things we have talked about. And so that for me is what wraps this entire thing up. We talked about eight gazillion things, and I knew we would. It developed exactly like it was supposed to, but the value comes from learning from you to really appreciate and absorb everything as if there's still more to learn in everything. And I think that's where a lot of us get hung up is I know my job. I know my job, I know what I'm supposed to do. And people get very, some get maybe a little insecure about their confidence levels or their ability or whatever. But for Jen, she sees everything as an opportunity to expand and to learn and to develop another program, another opportunity, involve more residents, involve more children. That's right. And so it's really very, very cool. I'm kind of perceptive.

SPEAKER_01

Well, as the young people would say, I feel seen. I feel seen in this moment that you get it. You get the vision, you get the message. It's all authentic. I think sometimes when people meet me, they're captivated by the like the passion and the excitement that I have, and they're like, where does that come from? And I'm like, this is this is what joy really looks like. Um, I have bad days. You've seen them. I can I can have a grumpy moment, everybody. I can have a a hard day or a hard conversation with myself or other people, but my life is full of joy because I live authentically in the way that I is intended to be lived for me. Yeah. And that looks different for everybody. And I there's no, I can't give you a recipe for how to live authentically. I can't. I can't say how do you live authentically to yourself? Um, but what I can say is I go where my body gravitates. Yeah. If my body is leading me towards this area, then I follow it. I really go. Something keeps pulling me over here, and I need to give that attention.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And that's that's it. That's all I got. Follow that magnet. I love that. Do you know what happens when I when I just kind of let go? One of my friends goes, fix your face. It all sits right here because sometimes I get into thought and I forget what my face looks like. And it normally rats me out. No, I don't think so. No, I'm I'm I'm just let everybody know where you're at. It's true. I I genuinely enjoy having the office space up here. And it's really hard because in Jen's busy season, it is stone silent up here. And we're all like, oh, oksana and I at this end of the of the building are like so quiet. It's where's Jen? Where's Emily? It's true. Like it is. And the you you guys roll in with an energy and that it's just happy.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And yesterday we um we cornered Jen. Yesterday, oh boy, got into an entire conversation about plants. And I I can't I do see you, so I know when you're pushing somebody's buttons. And it was the most couldn't help it, it was the most entertaining conversation. She was teasing Oksana about plants because Oksana, those are her babies. Yes. And Jen's like, well, I think all I need to do is cut this brown spot off. And I'm Oksana's face was like, What? You're gonna do what? She says, take a step back, Jen. Don't get close to my plant.

SPEAKER_01

I said, I I've read somewhere you're just supposed to cut the brown off of all the plants.

SPEAKER_00

Unroll the leaf. Poor Oksana's little heart just about exploded.

SPEAKER_01

I know Christy goes, Oksana. She's teasing, she's just teasing you. Poor Oksana.

SPEAKER_00

But it was best. And every every once in a while we need that energy in here because it's very easy to get wrapped up in your current to-do list. Yeah. So those conversations, and I'll tell you, I've learned a lot from you. I have learned a lot. Um, and I remember this from the emerging leaders group that we were in. Yeah. I learned a lot about perspective.

SPEAKER_01

Do tell?

SPEAKER_00

Well, I mean, you're very open and honest, and you're very willing, as was the whole group. I was talking about this yesterday. We had I do miss that group. Oh, I do too. Yeah. We had a very vocal group. Yeah. None of us were a type B personality. None. Not one. And there was what, nine of us in there? Eight or nine of us? But the value came from the group discussions. And me being new to the city, it helped me really understand A municipality as a whole, government operations processes, all the things that were involved with it, which was super helpful. But being able to bounce things off of each other and learning from other conversations were there was of such value that I would love to be able to replicate that in a sense that we form these groups. Yeah. You know, quarterly, twice a year, whatever it may be. Yeah. But I think as it as much as we enjoyed that, I think there's more in the discussion group and leading with a topic than there would be from a curriculum. Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

The learning was just us teaching each other.

SPEAKER_00

And that's the energy that you bring wherever you go. And kids adore it, and they're able to learn and see and experience things. And parents who are not innately born to do those things super appreciate it because their kid becomes a little more curious along the way.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Maybe with like age and maturity, shine not just allowing other people to lead you, but encouraging other people to lead you. It's a breath of fresh air sometimes to let other people just teach you and other people in

Letting Others Lead And Learn

SPEAKER_01

the space. And if you're a strong leader, it is really refreshing to step back and go lead me through this. And when I'm working with kids, some kids just have a niche fascination with something. They've spent their whole little eight years obsessing about this one little species. Now, why would I step on their toes and be the resonant expert? I'll let them teach the group. Well, tell us about them. What do we need to know? How do why do we care about this little thing that you care about? Right. And in essence, what it does is give that kid value in the thing that they value. Of course. And I'm validating their um their passion, their interests. I'm validating it in front of the other kids. And so now those other kids feel free. Like, I want to tell everybody about my little niche obsession. Even if it has nothing to do with nature. I had a girl the other day teach me a TikTok dance from a song that's pop culture when we finished our amphibian hike. And I never thought that I'd be out here learning a TikTok dance.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I'm gonna have to see that.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. That's that's on my list. I'm gonna have to see you fish first.

SPEAKER_02

Nope.

SPEAKER_00

But I will go on a hike. I will go walk around in the woods with you. Okay. Yes, I just don't do snakes.

SPEAKER_01

If you could make sure I'm not you know my perspective of snakes. You'd be really proud of me. You'd be so proud of me. Let's go.

Snake Spotting Without Panic

SPEAKER_01

Yesterday I was with our maintenance foreman. I said, hey, let's go ride around our park and look at it and see what we need to care about after the heavy rain, you know? Because with rain, will come some kind of erosion somewhere that we want to help manage. So we get to the ponds, and there's this really rocky area under a boardwalk, and that is a snake pit. Oh, and it is awesome. And anybody who knows me, you now know. I do I have broke through the fear of snakes, but I still don't want to hold them and touch them. I don't have a love and affinity for them, but I have a respect and I I do have a curiosity. So we pull up and there's a snake sunbathing. And Brooks, who's next to me, he says, Oh man, that's a copperhead. And I was like, that's not a copperhead, buddy. And I'm gonna tell you why. I live on these snake pages, yeah. So all day long I'm inundated with people going, What's this snake? What's this snake? What's this? I stop at those posts all the time. Yeah, and real experts will come on and and and educate you. And here's what I taught him. I said, You see that? That's a tornado, not a Hershey kiss. That's how we know that's a water snake. And I even surprised myself. The pattern on the side, the Hershey kiss is wide at the bottom, right? Okay, goes like this at the top. Yes, it's upside down for a water snake. It looks like a little tornado.

SPEAKER_00

Oh I didn't know that. There you go. Let me tell you. Thank you, Snake Pages. I am never gonna get close enough to be able to decipher that. Okay, but that was from a distance. Yeah, I can't see distance.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, we already discovered that. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So I will have the same reaction every time.

SPEAKER_01

Well, in my household, everybody just calls all snakes a copperhead. Oh, um, and I'm like, that's not, and they're like, no, you don't understand. We're not gonna say it's anything different because we don't want to be near it, we don't want to touch it, and we don't want it touching us, so it doesn't really matter what kind of snake it is. They are my people, they are literally my people. No, that's not. That's educating to do.

SPEAKER_00

I I am fascinated with them. So I look forward to when you get the snake guy on Wildlife 101. I agree. I agree because I think that's gonna be a a great webinar. So goodness, Jen, we have I we we went over a lot. We went over a lot, and that's okay. I'm I'm not even concerned with time on this one, just because this is exactly what I wanted to happen, because this is where a lot of the education and new things start popping up from this. So I hope people who are listening reach out, have questions for you, which leads to another investigation, another educational series, another, another something. Yeah. Because or even if it's just a new person on your hike or a new person in one of your camps, because you do all these fabulous programming things. And if that's if that's what this extremely long conversation brings us, then I am completely happy with that. So give me give me a quick synopsis of what you want people to pull out of this.

Drop The Agenda Final Takeaways

SPEAKER_01

Oh, what I want for people to do is stop having an expectation on themselves when they go in nature. And I want you to just go and think. Things that catch your eye that are interesting or curious, just stop and be curious about it. Right. Don't overthink it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. You don't have to have an agenda every time you go in nature. It doesn't have to be a fitness walk every time. It doesn't have to be, I'm here looking for this really rare bird. It doesn't have to be, I need an exciting waterfall. What I want you to do is just stop at things that look out of place or curious to you and take that time because that's what kids are doing. And they're great at it. And guess what? They have the best attitudes. So it might actually improve your experiences in nature to just stop and be curious every once in a while without an agenda.

SPEAKER_02

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I need to like write that down and pin it up on my little desk wall. You don't need an agenda. I don't need an agenda. Yes. I always have an agenda. That's right. Well, a huge thank you to you, Jen, for joining us and bringing all this right back up to the surface. I think this is a great conversation that has about eight more legs to it. Um, which we will follow up on. I just got to pin her down on her schedule. And I will commit to a field trip type thing.

SPEAKER_01

Why don't we podcast in the field and we talk about what we are looking at and we explain it and have fun with people?

SPEAKER_00

Okay. All right. We've got mics that are that will move. We can try. Ooh.

unknown

See?

SPEAKER_00

New ideas. I love it. I love it. She's getting me out of my comfort zone. Scares me. I literally scares me. Anyway. So as we wrap this up, let's think about what Jen just said. And it's something in nature to notice. It's something to explore and it's something to appreciate. And everybody has different levels of that. And accepting that and learning that and continuing on with that is the most important part. So I am so very grateful for the opportunity to have these conversations with you. And whether you're five or 95, there's always something new to discover right outside your door. So take that. I know, right? If I if I didn't have to pay for this mic, I'd drop it.

SPEAKER_01

That was epic. That was a that was the line. That was the line.

SPEAKER_00

At any rate, Jen, thank you so much. It's my pleasure. For today, I enjoyed it, and uh I I guarantee there'll be follow-up, and it could be in the field while Christy's trudging through nature trying to not fall down because you know I trip on carpet.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, but I do have a paved path for you. So we'll go down the paved path.

SPEAKER_00

I can do rocks. I exaggerate a little bit.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, a little bit. I I'll keep you away from the snake pit. Thank you. Take you to the pier.

SPEAKER_00

I'm less afraid of bears and mountain lions than I am, snakes and things I can't do. I understand. I feel the same way.

unknown

Okay.

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SPEAKER_00

So if you've enjoyed this episode, be sure to share it with a friend, a neighbor, a fellow nature enthusiast. And I'm Christy Weeks, the communications manager, and this has been Milton and Maine. So until next time, take a little time to see the world through fresh eyes. And as always, thanks for listening. Thanks for listening to Milton and Maine. We hope this episode gave you fresh insights into what makes our city so special. Stay connected and don't miss an episode by subscribing to this podcast on your favorite platform and following us on social media for all updates. And of course, if you want to learn more about the city, visit us online at www.miltonga.gov for resources, news, and upcoming events. Until next time, thanks for being part of the conversation, and we'll see you on the next Milton in Maine.