About 'girl rangers'

There is one fact of modern life to which I will probably never completely adjust. You younger folks in your early 60s probably can't grasp the concept of living in a society where "the women's place was in the home." Sure! Women got the right to vote a few years before I was born but it takes a couple of generations for radical social changes to be fully accepted. I have worked hard at adapting but quite often am reminded, "It ain't easy."

Last week's Hungry Horse News had one of those "reminders." On page A6 is the photo of a Glacier National Park Ranger carrying a large backpack and looking east toward the plains from a high elevation on the Scenic Point Trail. Featured on the front page is another photo of the new chief ranger at the remote Polebridge Station. For a moment I recalled teenage days when I first worked for the U.S. government out there in the grizzly bear dingweeds. It was a widely known fact: Those jobs were much "too difficult for girls."

The rangers in last week's paper were identified as Carol Vanderpool at Two Medicine and Sharon Olson at Polebridge. Those are not boy names.

My most shocking comeuppance to these changes that have taken place in the wildland's work and recreation business occurred when our Over the Hill Gang accepted two women in our weekly climbs in the Park. It took me several years to accept the fact they were as capable and durable as we macho he-man guys. That knowledge was personally driven home when my svelte daughter Heidi went in the army and passed the full male infantry combat training courses and daughter Wendy sneaked out to Lost Prairie to jump out of airplanes. Both of these flagrant challenges to acceptable female conduct happened without them getting their father's consent.

Guess my education is not quite complete. Last Thursday, Heidi was helping me get boxes of books gathered for delivery to the Museum at Kalispell's Central School. She began carrying them out to her car and without really considering what I was saying I told her, "Heidi, those are pretty heavy. You wait a minute and I'll go get your mother to help."

Life is good.

G. George Ostrom is a national award-winning columnist for Hungry Horse News. He lives in Kalispell.