OKC Kayak Word Soup

As many of you are aware, I am a biologist and naturalist by training. This interest was sparked by a 17 year plus stint as a volunteer for Martin Park Nature Center. They could not get rid of me, so they reluctantly hired me, and I worked there for an additional 6 or seven years.

Yeah, I know what you are thinking. You are running the numbers in your head and probably saying to yourself. “Dave, you are only 33 years old. Who was your math teacher?” Yep, at eight years of age I joined the youth volunteer program at the nature center. Neil Garrison was not only the director of the park, but my hero and mentor. Many of you may better know him as the guy with the live owl that sat in his office and would accompany him on a multitude of speaking engagements. Neil’s reign as director ended today with his retirement after over three decades of service to the City of Oklahoma City and this urban nature park.

Neil was and still is the epitome of what someone’s hero truly should be. We far too often seem to offer up misplaced idolatry for folks who perhaps excel at athletics yet lack ethics, or for folks who are great singers yet fail to be the voice for anyone other than themselves. Let me tell you folks, it does not take superpowers, flashy stuff, or oversized egos to make gargantuan differences in this world.

Naturalists by trade are knowledgeable on all things, not just one specialized area of nature. Neil is particularly well versed on this stuff. But, a bunch of facts and figures are just that if you do not have an effective and creative way to impart this knowledge on others. Neil used his creative wit and humor to effectively do this. Combine this with a passion for nature that is absolutely contagious, and you have a true winner. I think the thing that really set Neil apart from his many peers and colleagues in the field was the fact that he never let his “job” be confined to the written job description he was handed when he signed up. He never let the time clock or a paycheck determine when he should start or stop working for the day.

I was three when Neil had his first day of work at the park, but I am guessing that nowhere in the job description did it say, “You must take a personal interest in the visitors and volunteers, take personal care of and concern for kids who cross your path that may have a less than desirable family life, and you are required to carry your concern for nature into your personal life and free time, volunteering for endless conservation organizations.” Nope, probably did not say any of this, but Neil did this nonetheless.

Who is going to be the one to step up and take that little boy whose world may be filled with far too many painful things than a kid should have to think about on a camping trip? Who will have the patience to let a lonely child explore the subterranean world of a cave? Who will get the little girl off the couch and out from in front of the television so she can catch amphibians from a farm pond under the glow of a flashlight? Did anyone notice every Fourth of July when Neil was out in the 100 degree plus temperatures at the fourth of July parade with a gargantuan snake for kids to interact with? We you aware that Neil on his own dime would rescue hawk babies and find a suitable foster nest for these orphans? Is a guy who befriends an overlooked autistic man, regularly taking him to dinner on his sparse naturalist salary hero material? I would sure like to think so. The way Neil carried his work well beyond the obligatory 9-6 was what spoke volumes to me. Nobody was paying him for these extras. He could have picked a career that was far more lucrative as well, but he let his heart follow his passions. When is the last time you thanked a man or woman for doing such?

Neil Garrison, thank you for everything you did to inspire me, care for not only me, but scores of others, thank you for being the kind of man that a kid can look up to and wish to be like. We need more people like you. My promise is to let your kindness, passion and enthusiasm be carried forward in exponential ways through myself and so many others whose lives you have touched. With tears in my eyes, a world of thanks! You changed the outcome of my life.