Puerto Rico Part II: The Engineer Turned Forest Ranger

In my previous post I introduced Frank, who was our guide in the El Yunque rain forest in Puerto Rico. As Lani and I walked along a rain forest path, Frank talked plants and wildlife and then about bits and pieces of his background. Here’s what we learned:

Frank was born in Puerto Rico, but moved to the continent (that’s how many Puerto Ricans refer to the mainland United States) when he was young. You can still hear the remnants of a New York accent in his throaty voice. After high school, he joined the Air Force and was posted with NATO in Europe. He married his high school sweetheart and things went along smoothly. He studied electrical engineering, something that served him well when he left the service. He moved to Puerto Rico where he began working for a large computer manufacturer. He eventually helped the company develop factories that built things like main frame computers – you know, those large, clunky pieces of electronics that existed in the Stone Age, i.e., before advent of the PC. (At one time, tax incentives led a large number of electronics companies to run factories on the island.)

In a matter-of-fact way, Frank told us that his wife died of cancer in the early 1990s. Although he didn’t say the words, I suspect Frank had a nervous breakdown. Frank couldn’t work. He just shut himself off.

“I was depressed, I thought it was all over. I just didn’t want to go on,” Frank explained to us.

The sequence gets a little patchy, but eventually Frank saw a counselor, someone available to veterans. It was possible that he would go on disability and never be able to work again. But the counselor kept pushing Frank to find new ways to reengage with his life. The counselor suggested that Frank try studying forestry or something similar at the University of Puerto Rico—education that would be largely subsidized based on his status as a veteran. How that suggestion came about still isn’t clear to Frank now. But he did go to school to study tropical forestry. Partway through his studies, the same counselor recommended Frank for an unpaid fellowship working in El Yunque. “I liked it from the very beginning. I didn’t know it was going to lead anywhere, though,” he says, and smiles. “Then a job came open and I took it. I’ve been in the park ever since.”

He continues, “I’ve never had a regret. Not once. I love it here.”

Some thoughts:

• Sometimes there is no epiphany. Frank was never particularly attached to the outdoors growing up or even as an adult. And after his crisis, he never had a sudden realization that a life outdoors was the right thing for him. His counselor came along with the right suggestion at the right time, and Frank was willing to see it through. (Frank sees this as a little like divine intervention; I see it as the power of serendipity.)
• Personal change doesn’t recognize age. It was only at the end of our hike that I finally learned Frank was in his 70s. That means he went through his crisis and totally shifted his career, education, and everything else while most people are getting ready for retirement. It’s never too late to change.
• Tree frogs rock. The vast armies of coqui frogs in El Yunque do an amazing job keeping down the mosquito population in the rain forest by feasting on the larvae. They skip the tadpole stage and go straight to being tiny frogs. They collect water through their skin. The frogs’ two-note calls provide a super noisy but strangely relaxing chorus at night.