Hats off to Betty White!

Last week one of America’s favorite actresses, Betty White, was named an honorary ranger by the US Forest Service.  She received a hug from Smokey Bear and many kind words, but the most important mark of her new status was the iconic, wide-brimmed ranger hat. 

How many of us have seen those hats perched atop a ranger’s head when wandering around some of our most beautiful outdoor spaces?  They dot the landscape, blending in unobtrusively but managing to stand out against vivid wild backgrounds. For me, as a child, those hats identified the keepers of those protected and valuable parks, forests, and monuments. It seemed to me a fantastic job; their offices wide as canyons, their views better than the tallest high-rise.

I did not grow up to become a park or forest ranger, to don that fantastic hat.  Most of us do not.  But Betty White’s words rang true for me this week.  “In my heart I’ve been a forest ranger all my life,” she said.  Isn’t that true for so many of us? Look at the high school eco club that regularly explores their urban greenspaces, or the family that drives into the mountains just to enjoy the views.  Every ten-year-old that recycles a soda can or delights in a backyard discovery, does so while wearing an invisible ranger’s hat.

So make friends with your inner ranger!  Go outside for an adventure in America’s backyard and wander, climb, fish, stargaze, or just explore your way across the wide outdoors. Adventures- and maybe even a wide-brimmed hat- await you.

Check out www.sierraclub.org to find out more about where and how to explore, enjoy, and protect the planet.  Or visit Lets Move Outside for more ideas.