As a great lover of musicals it is not hard for me to imagine during my day to day routine that I am indeed living in a musical, or at least should be. Random songs are constantly popping into my head that perfectly describe whatever situation I find myself in. It probably happens to everyone.   For a variety of reasons, ever since the start of my internship Madonna’s Like a Virgin has been the most common song to pop into my head.   This is surprising to me because I have never been a fan, except of course a League of Their Own and Evita.

Reason #1 – Everything in the Forest Service is new to me. I totally thought I knew exactly what the agency did; turns out I really had no idea. It has been truly eye opening the variety of work that goes on in our National Forests. Because everything has been new, it is exciting.

Reason #2 – I always think things are going to be simple and so I find myself in situations that are less than comfortable. For example, a relaxed trip out to check on the stock animals for wilderness trails turned into an unpleasant adventure. It was hot, I thought the pasture was smaller than it turned out to be, and true to form the horses were in the most remote corner of the pasture that they could find. Fast forward to my pal and I being particularly parched, without water and having to resort to sucking the juice out of a random rhubarb plant we found. It’s in times like that I feel akin to Frodo Baggins on his journey to destroy the ring of power.

Reason #3 – I have found folks in the Forest Service to be fun loving, affable people. Everyone is super nice, and mostly fun to work with. I feel like I have found the right group of individuals to work with. An added bonus is that I feel absolutely comfortable telling all of my greatest jokes while at work.

For these reasons, with new love of the Forest Service comes a growing appreciation of the Material Girl Madonna.