Do you suppose that blogging is out of bounds for us Park Rangers?

When completing the multiple forms required for the federal government in order to be placed on the federal payroll I found myself wondering ... ? It could well be that I saw no rules about blogging because the regulations and ethics codes simply haven't caught up with the technology -- and now that I'm no longer an independent contractor working for the National Park system -- will I be breaking some arcane rules if I continue to discuss my work in the public arena? It will be difficult to leave out such a primary part of my life and still share in any meaningful way.

I understand about the need for discretion and how not to accept an honorarium, etc., that was a necessary part of the State of California ethics code under which I worked for many years. What's different now? Was I blogging then? I don't think so. I began this journal in September of 2003 -- just after I resigned from my position as staff to a member of the State Assembly.

It's hard to see how I will be able to continue to write without the ability to share what has become my primary role in life. I'm learning so much and having a chance to do great things with such great people -- how can I not talk about it?

It is here that I visit during the rare lulls in my days and weeks -- where I can take the time to think about things that are moving so fast -- where I can sit at my computer and mull over the highs and the lows and digest so much that is so fluid -- like quicksilver slipping away -- often before I can properly integrate it. Without this magical keyboard, I'm not sure that I could process it all -- download it into my MAC and prepare for another round when the decks (and my mind) have been cleared at intervals.

I asked someone from our management team to check out the regs and to let me know whether I should drop current events and return to writing poetry or maybe take up transcendental meditation!

I'll let y'all know after they've had time to discuss it at a staff meeting soon. I suspect that I'm the only blogger among them, so there are no precedents. It's quite possible that the Department of Interior just hasn't caught up with me!

Betty the Park Ranger