Imagine that you are 21, love history, and got a job offer to work at the Bodie museum for the summer. Well, that was me this spring, (and of course I took the job.) My name is Melissa and I grew up in Bridgeport, California, about 21 miles from the Bodie State Historic Park. Because I did not grow up very far from the park my family would come here now and then. I loved being in Bodie; my imagination would run wild, bringing the 120-year-old town to life. The idea of working in a place that is “haunted with history” was very exciting.

Working in the museum I see hundreds of people a day. Besides all of our American visitors we also get a lot of foreign tourists. But no matter where they are from, Bodie has a way of captivating them. It becomes very important for some of them to express their feelings about this place. I often hear, “I love this place!” One day I had a couple with very limited English explain what they had written in the guest book to me because they had written it in French. (I can’t read French.) Others are just happy to be here. I even had one family tell me about the “western movie” they were filming and for firearms they were using water guns. That sure feels nice on a hot August day.

I also love working with the many children that come through. The Junior Ranger program is designed to help children 7-12 years old learn about the history of people, plants, and animals of the California State Parks. We had about 821 children earn badges this year, almost 200 more than last year when we had 626 children. In 2004, Bodie also had the highest participation in the entire Sierra District of State Parks. The program in Bodie, being self-guided and geared for self-discovery, is a great way to help children learn about Bodie and find out what they already know. Some of the questions that the children answer are, “How much were miners paid per day?” “Would you have wanted to live here in 1879 when there were lots of people?” “Name some of the things you saw at the school house that we do not use today.” Some of the answers to the questions are surprising, to say the least. Under the question of something new that you learned about Bodie, one girl wrote she had learned that in Bodie you could buy a girlfriend. Surprised by this answer, Amber, one of our park aids, asked her how she had learned that. It turns out that while her family was watching the video on Bodie, she picked up on the word “prostitute,” not knowing what that was she asked her mother for an explanation.

The museum has two beautiful horse-drawn hearses, sometimes however they are not immediately recognized for what they are. One boy came into the museum, saw the hearse, and started exclaiming, “Look, a police car!” When he got closer and saw the casket inside, he said, “Oh, wait! It’s a funeral thing.”

But some of the children learn about other things besides Bodie. One day a little girl asked me how much a post card cost. I told her that it was 40 cents plus tax. She looked at me inquisitively and asked, “What’s tax?” “Oh boy,” I thought, “how do you explain tax to a little kid!” “Well…” After attempting an explanation she looked at me for a minute, then said, “Oh.” A little bit later she was back with a book and wanted to know how much it cost. I told her and all of a sudden she got an “Oh, I know” look on her face, and said with a huge smile, “Plus tax!”

Working in the museum could be challenging some days. It is somewhat of a balancing act to answer the radios, phone, questions, and tend the cash register simultaneously. Sometimes it is just hopping with people (800 or so), other days it is very quiet. (Like a ghost town!) It is fun to talk to many of our visitors. It is especially exciting to talk to those that have roots in Bodie. Helping others understand what Bodie was like, infusing them with its wonder, is very rewarding.

I enjoyed working here in Bodie and although I am sad to leave, I am glad to go home for the winter, but I hope to come back often. After all, there is still a lot about Bodie that I do not know, perhaps some I never will. What amazing things we would learn if these old buildings could talk. But as it is, they like to remain somewhat mysterious about their past. So Bodie will always be “haunted with history.”

Carissa, Kirk, & Peter Bangen hiked to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park last Monday.

It was a 17 mi round trip journey, and about 4,800' of altitude gain. Melissa and her friend Jessica spent the day in a less strenuous examination of the valley floor. It was very beautiful and October is a great time of year to visit Yosemite if you want to miss the crowds, as long as you didn't want to see huge waterfalls - they are pretty dry this time of year.

Dressing up is the fun part of the job, I get to bring history alive. Two girls wanted their picture with me after I told them a Bodie story. I don't think that they will forget it very soon.
-Melissa

Wow, time really does go fast. I started my job out at Bodie about 3 weeks ago.
On the 1st I moved out to a little house in Bodie so that I would not have to commute every day. I share it with two other people right now but soon there will be two more. There are three bedrooms, five beds. Right now I have an adorable little room all to myself. But after there are a few more girls, that is suppose to change.
I come home on my “weekends.” Last night I was hoping to get home before everyone ate dinner. Turns out that I did not need to be in a hurry because we did not eat until 9:30pm. Daddy and Kirk were out working and did not want to quit until they were done. I think some of you know how that goes.
I got dressed up for the first time yesterday. It was fun but I found out that I need a few more trappings to be comfortable and all dressed up too. A good thing about it thought is that I did not get hot in that heavy dress even thought it was a nice day. The museum is so cold that it was nice to wear something that I did not need to be wearing a coat with too.
We have a credit card machine out at Bodie, but when I started I did not need to worry about it because it did not work at the museum. On Friday night when Gary, the ranger that I work with the most, came to escort me (or maybe it is all the money) to the office to close out for the day he came in with the credit card machine. I asked him if he knew how to work it and he looked at me and said “You mean you don’t!” I came back with “Well, do you?” “No.” “Oh good, then you can teach me.” (Gary doesn’t like to admit that he knows how to do anything. But he is a nice guy.) The next day around noon he came in and asked me if I had figured out how to run the credit card machine. (One of the other staff members had been in earlier to teach us how to use it.) After he found out that I had managed to run two cards already that day he was relived that he would not end up having to teach me how to use it.
Well, I should quit before this update becomes a book. May every one have a week that is blessed of the Lord.

Nathan has enjoyed batting (He isn't very good at catching yet) while he played tee-ball this year. The first time he hit the ball he ran after it to pick it up.