Excerpted from “The Lost Week” by John Bacone
I always liked our family vacations. On our trips, we always had to get up at sunrise, way too early, to get a good start. Dad insisted on no fast food, so we always had to get a decent breakfast at a restaurant. Mom usually made a picnic lunch, for us to eat at a roadside attraction.
For one particular trip, we visited Brown County, Indiana. I had no idea there were so many forests and hills in Indiana. It was quite different from anywhere else we had ever been on our vacations. We stayed in the Hickory Shades Motel outside Nashville. We visited the town, which had a lot of stores that sold antiques and old newspapers. There was a courthouse, and out in front of it were benches where old men sat and smoked pipes. We spent a lot of time at “The Old Ferguson House”, a big old house crammed with everything from old newspapers to baby beds. We visited an art studio where a famous artist, T. C. Steele, used to live and paint.
My favorite place on the whole trip was Brown County State Park. The whole park, except for a large lodge, was hills and forests. We hiked on a couple of trails and then went to see the fire tower. We hiked up a lot of steps to the very top. In all directions, all I could see was forest. There were no roads or houses or power lines. I stood there looking out, feeling the breeze on my face. While up there, I decided I wanted to become a forest ranger. I had been thinking I might be a high school history teacher, but, all of a sudden, I had figured out what I really wanted to do.
When I came down, I told Mom and Dad about my decision. They said they didn’t know anything about that type of job and didn’t know what kind of education I would need. Chicago had a lot of forest preserves, which we visited a lot for group picnics. I had never paid any attention to the trees growing there, but I planned to pay more attention from now on. I learned some trees when I worked on my Forestry Merit Badge in Boy Scouts, but I just finished the requirements and got the badge. Mom suggested I write a letter to the U.S. Forest Service and ask them, which I planned to do when we returned home.Note – John Bacone didn’t become a “forest ranger” but he did work as a park naturalist and was instrumental in the work of the Division of Nature Preserves, where he retired as the division’s director after many years of service. He is an IPA board member. What dreams will today’s children accomplish after being inspired by state park and nature preserve visits, or by climbing a fire tower? You just never know!