Mar11

big park, little park, and the people who share them with all of us.

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Grand Canyon National Park

Polly Mead Patraw was the first woman park ranger at Grand Canyon National Park in 1929. She was the second woman ranger-naturalist in the entire park service. 

With a botany degree from the University of Chicago, she first applied to the Forest Service but was denied. Undaunted, she was accepted shortly after to be the first woman ranger-naturalist at Grand Canyon National Park. 

Her uniform consisted of the standard National Park Service uniform and a soft-brim hat. Women’s uniforms were not available.  Her job as a ranger-naturalist included lectures, auto tours, nature hikes, and writing about her findings. She served two summer terms and continued on through the spring of 1931. Today, her legacy as a trailblazing ranger-naturalist lives on.

 

 

Shizuoka, the world’s smallest park in Nagaizumi, Japan.

If you want to take a stroll around this park in Japan, you will have to be very nimble on your toes.A park roughly the size of four sheets of paper in Japan’s central prefecture of Shizuoka was recently crowned the world’s smallest, according to Guinness World Records. Despite measuring just 2.6 square feet, the recreational space offers a stool made up of a block of wood held up by a rock, with a little bush encircling it.

From afar, it could easily be mistaken for a bonsai, an example of the Japanese art of manicuring miniature trees.The park is a short walk from the town hall of Nagaizumi, about 68 miles southwest of the capital Tokyo.

When a Nagaizumi local was on vacation in the US, “they found the previous record holder for the smallest park,” Shuji Koyama, a team leader of the town’s construction division, told Guinness. “So they wanted to create an even smaller park.”

To qualify for the Guinness title, Shizuoka officials brought in a certified surveyor to measure the park. Koyama told Guinness World Records he was relieved that the park was finally recognized.

“We want to continue maintaining the park with the community, as well as creating a landscape that is more social media friendly, so that even more people will find attractions of our town,” he said.

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‘for some people, a park is the only place in their entire world where they can see something beautiful.’

-bette midler

 

 

 

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source credits: U.S. National Park Service, Chris Lau,CNN

 

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57 responses »

  10. That tiny park in Japan is quite whimsical!

    In another life, I would’ve spent my teenage summers working in our provincial parks. So much adventure and memories I could’ve made! Maybe for T one day. 😊🙏

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  19. Our national parks and monuments are global wonders of beauty for all to see..(these lands are our lands) and now are under attack from this current evil administration. This is just tragic. :((
    Speak out people..call your congressional representatives and senators. Chris

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