Who are you? who? WHO? who? WHO?

Sarah, Abby, Shari, Nathan, Kayce and Liz

There are several departments up here at the Skagway Division of Holland America/Princess-Alaska/Yukon:

Management/Business
Dispatch
Driver Guides
Dock Reps
Sales and Service
Luggage Crew
Wash Crew
Mechanics
and temporary folk like
Tour Directors
Highway Driver Guides

There are over 100 local (not temporary folk), so a bio of everyone would be time prohibitive and exceedingly boring to most people. But that doesn't mean that there aren't a slew of interesting people in the other departments. I have to say I've rarely worked in a place where I can honestly say that I like everybody. Sure, there are people I'd rather spend more time with than others. But there is no one I would want to avoid 100% of the time. And that's an excellent thing.

So who do I work with? The above photo is our entire department here in Skagway. The company recruits from a few places and gets other employees by word of mouth or randomly. So you find that there are clumps of people from certain places: central Florida, Utah and Bellingham, WA.

Sarah is 20 years old from Orlando and attends the University of Central Florida. UCF has a hospitality industry department. No surprise since it IS Orlando, home of the Mouse. I probably know Sarah the least, only because she works part time for our department. Other times she works for the coffee shop in their bakery and bakes yummy treats. Part of the curriculum at UCF is to get a paying job that counts towards college credits as long as it has a connection to the hospitality industry. She is smart, hard-working and very pretty although she'll pooh-pooh that last part. What shines in her is her strong connection to her faith.

Before arriving, she made a connection with a local family who have adopted her for the summer. She does live at the Westmark with the rest of us. But this family has embraced her and given her the opportunity to be more in tune with local full-time life than most of us here get a chance to see. Since she is from a large family, this connection has helped her get over her initial homesickness. Sarah also feels we here should have more community, so she has posted notices that she will cook breakfast for anyone who is interested for a mere $6. They are so yummy and definitely give us a chance to break bread together. She is a delight and will be leaving in mid/late-August to be home before school starts. She will be missed. Sarah hopes to be a wedding planner and she will be splendid at that.

Next in our photo is Abby. Wow! What to say about Abby? First, she's our manager and just had her birthday, so is now 26. She is also the only other married person in our department. Her husband, Trent, works as a dispatcher. They have been working for HAP-AY for several years in various positions so have a great knowledge of the company. They are also two of the most likable people up here. She is good to work for and with, soft-spoken, very attractive and has a way of being both outgoing and private at the same time. When we first all met she asked us to say a little about ourselves including something unusual. Her "unusual" thing was a fascination for a wide variety of make-up. True to form, a couple of times a week something arrives in the mail that she has purchased online and often it is make-up. Somehow she always manages whatever colors she mixes to look fabulous. Not that she isn't already naturally attractive!

She and Trent have a Mormon upbringing and are a great couple. They spent the last winter traveling around promoting the company all over the U.S. driving in one of the luxury coaches that the Cruisetours use. Last summer here in Skagway, they spearheaded a group of people to...ghost hunt. Yup, they got that funky equipment like they use on that t.v. show and investigated spooky places around Skagway...of which several exist. So it is said. So, she's very interesting and surprising.

Then there's me, but it's my blog and enough about me. Some of my co-workers, though not all, call me "Mom." Many of you who know me from ages back know how funny THAT is!

Next is our Nathan. Nathan turned 20 just at the beginning of our season up here. Our fashionista, he is young, bold, opinionated, generous, fabulous, sassy, infuriating, kind and entertaining. Gotta love him! He can't be bothered with the trivial. He'll go out of his way to help you out if he likes you, but does not suffer fools gladly. He has a spirit of entitlement than makes you say, "Who the hell do you think you are" on the one hand. And on the other hand, makes you envy his lack of inhibition for going for whatever....whether for himself or for those he cares about. He has a "can do" attitude, like naturally this will all be as he wants it to be. And if it doesn't, well then, he just can't be bothered. I would love to be that fearless.

Nathan also goes to UCF. So he and Sarah will be leaving at about the same time. I've questioned him if hospitality is really where he wants to be. I've yet to get a straight answer to that question. And that's just fine because at 20 you shouldn't have all the answers. A lot of life will go out of our department when he leaves. Nathan's got presence.

Kayce is 24...25? Yikes! I don't remember. Sorry, Kayce! She is our TOKen Alaskan and the pun is intended because she lives in Tok, Alaska. Yes, there is a Tok. Tok rhymes with coke. Tok exists as an overnighting place along the Alaskan highway and that's really about it. She has also been with HAP-AY for a few years in various capacities. She was a trolley driver up in Denali last year, so Mike worked with her last year.

While she doesn't have Nathan's flamboyance (thank goodness....the department isn't big enough for two), she shares Nathan's characteristics of kindness and generosity. If she has it to give in terms of her time or goods, she will always share with you. She has a beautiful smile and a vast knowledge about Alaska. Sometimes she can be very defensive of her state. We had a lively conversation early on about why more Alaskans aren't hired by the seasonal companies. Being from here, hunting and fishing for winter provisions is not unknown to her. Talk about fearless! Her dream is to go to culinary school and become a chef...owning her own bistro. She will be wonderful at that.

And finally, there's Liz who is 19...ok she'll be 20 at the end of this month. This spring she logged onto coolworks.com looking for summer work and found this. So, she wasn't recruited. She didn't know anyone up here. She stepped outside of her routine and all that was known and just...went. Again, fearless! I wish I'd been that fearless when I was their ages. Yeesh! She is from the Chicago area and is majoring in film...looking to produce films in her future.

She is smart, funny, cute and very authentic. She can laugh with others and at herself. Liz is on the cusp of great things in her life. She is focused on her future. I really like that Liz and Sarah are focused on what they're doing, their future and who they are. If it had been me at their age I would have been all about seeking true love. I admire their focus.

(oops...pause...listening to Pandora and "I'm Gonna Be 500 Miles" is on...so gotta stop and bop....damn....the song's over now...pooh)

So basically what I'm saying is how much I admire my young co-workers for doing what they're doing, what they're up to and what they're working towards. For the first time in my life I'm finding myself envying being young. I've never thought much about going back and wanting to do something over. My life has been what it is and I'm pretty ok with all that's come before. I've lived a lot more of life than many choose to. But for the very first time, I look at what they're doing and that they have so much more time to grow, experience, live, and have adventure. And this is all from the perspective of being young.

Yes, I've still got time and space for adventure and growth. No doubt about it. But I also have a lot more life behind me. My eyes are older. My take on things cannot be as fresh and new. My points of reference are current to my life, yet history to theirs. Really old movies are in the 1980's. They don't really know about going all the way to the gate to meet people at the airport. And many more moments that arise where I am reminded that while I inhabit this time, I also hold the memories of other eras.

And soon it will be time to go...back...to what? Definitely I look forward to seeing all my Arizona family. I miss them all very much. I don't look forward to an unlikable routine. So, it will be a goal to find a winter routine that I will like....whatever that might be. Hopefully it will include a good nursing job and a lot of time spent with those we love.

Mike's been very active and suffering from two broken fingers and some trauma to his hand...possibly a tendon or ligament. And he's on the volley ball team. Gotta love him! And I hear his team is comprised of four of the shorter people who work for HAP-AY. Also, it's Safety Week here in Skagway and that means pep rallies, games and our monthly bbq. I'm looking forward to the bbq....as always. It's all about the food. ; )