Riding With Ranger Tomas

Polly woke up on the bus at sunrise. A ranger in brown was opening his office. His name was Tomas. He smiled at her. "Come ride with me."

Polly vågnede i bussen ved solopgang. En skovfoged i brun uniform var ved at åbne sit kontor. Han hed Tomas. Han smilede til hende. "Kom med på tur," sagde han.

Polly rode in his truck. Tomas had been a ranger for fourteen years. He drove slowly. He stopped often.

Polly kørte med i hans bil. Tomas havde været skovfoged i fjorten år. Han kørte langsomt. Han stoppede ofte.

The first stop was a wet meadow. Tomas looked for bear signs. "In June, corn lilies grow here. Bears eat them."

Det første stop var en våd eng. Tomas ledte efter tegn på bjørne. "I juni vokser der kornliljer her. Bjørnene spiser dem."

Polly hopped to the window. The corn lilies were small green spears.

Polly hoppede hen til vinduet. Kornliljerne var små grønne spirer.

The truck climbed. The air got cooler. At a turn in the road, Tomas pointed. A peregrine falcon sat on a rock. Polly looked at it. The falcon dropped off the rock and was gone.

Bilen kørte opad. Luften blev køligere. Ved et sving på vejen pegede Tomas. En vandrefalk sad på en klippe. Polly kiggede på den. Falken fløj ned fra klippen og forsvandt.

"Falcons nest on the cliffs," Tomas said. "We have six pairs this year."

"Falkene bygger reder på klipperne," sagde Tomas. "Vi har seks par i år."

Polly watched how the falcon folded its wings to dive. She wanted to try it.

Polly så, hvordan falken foldede sine vinger for at dykke. Hun ville gerne prøve det.

Later, Tomas walked into the woods. He came back with a metal can. "Someone tried to bury this bear-proof box."

Senere gik Tomas ind i skoven. Han kom tilbage med en metalboks. "Nogen har forsøgt at grave denne bjørnesikre boks ned."

At noon they reached Olmsted Point. Polly saw a big view. Tenaya Lake far below. Half Dome from behind. Grey mountains in the distance.

Ved middagstid nåede de Olmsted Point. Polly så en stor udsigt. Tenaya Sø langt nede. Half Dome bagfra. Grå bjerge i det fjerne.

"Most people drive past this," Tomas said. He poured a little coffee in his cup. He set the cup on the dashboard. "Stay a while."

"De fleste kører bare forbi her," sagde Tomas. Han hældte lidt kaffe i sin kop. Han satte koppen på instrumentbrættet. "Bliv lidt."