Cherry Popping, Sour Toe and Not My Chair

While cherry popping is a term generally reserved for losing virginity, I've heard it used up here to describe a first experience with any new and enjoyable activity. Based on a quick e-mail from my friend, Gray Goose (trail name!), there was a "coronal mass ejection" from the sun on Sunday. This is a precursor to viewings of the northern lights. Many of the articles online said that these lights might possibly be seen as southerly as the U.S./Canadian border. Skagway is significantly north of that, so many of us got up in the middle of the night...or stayed up 'til the middle of the night when it gets sufficiently dark. Many thanks to Goose for this e-mail!!!!!!!

For the first time in months, I saw stars when I walked out the back door (and no...I didn't get hit over the head). It is finally dark enough at 1:45 a.m. to see stars. Still, on the eastern horizon, there glowed that blue-green-golden light that hints at the coming dawn. The moon was a bright larger crescent with enough light to cause moonshadow. Now Skagway becomes a sleepy town once the cruise ships depart, a time of day we all savor...including those cruise ship passengers who are on a stop from their Cruisetour...those fortunate enough to be around when the town slows down. But at 1:45 a.m., it was pretty funny when I emerged from the driveway onto the street and severely startled two young people walking. It's not often that I am considered scary.

It was a pretty tough moment when my alarm went off at 1:30 a.m. and all thoughts were a groan and a moan. Gravity was dragging me deeper into the mattress. But a coronal mass ejection? The possibility of a viewing success? Ok...I'll go. Mike had just finished a 4 day trip to Dawson City and had an early morning, so he had opted to stay in bed this time and wait for a night later in the season when we're both off the next day. Little did I know that several HAP-AY employees would be awake in various locations to try to catch the spectacle.

My plan was to "drive up the hill" into British Columbia to a spot known as the International Bathrooms...basically a pullout on the road with toilets. It is just beyond International Falls and just before the road opens onto a valley vista. In other words, a place where one could see a lot more sky than what can be seen between the local mountains here in town. On the way I passed four cars. What the heck were they doing driving to Skagway at 2 a.m.? There were 3 RV's parked at pull-outs for the night...not so stealthy boondocking opportunities. Along the avalanche area, the poles at the side of the road indicating snow plow boundary were lit up from my headlights and seemed often as bright as streetlights.

I parked at the International Bathrooms and there was an RV parked there for the night. Hope it wasn't too creepy when they heard my car door opening and closing. There was a light breeze and you could hear the waterfalls. Up in the sky? Nothing. Nada. Well, nothing except snow dotted mountains outlined against a mostly dark sky with a bright crescent moon and smatterings of stars including the big dipper. Jumping in and out of my car, I waited to see what would happen. This was a kind of waiting similar to meteor shower waiting.

In the car, out of the breeze, I noticed a white streak that looked vaguely like the streak those Hollywood premiere spotlights would make...except it wasn't moving fast at all. Getting out of the car, this streak extended in an arc from horizon to horizon directly overhead. It wasn't there moments ago and it almost could have been mistaken for a cloud. That's until another streak appeared nearby. Slowly they morphed into narrower and wider ribons, sometimes coiling. And then strands of light descended with occasional rippling like a curtain. It was never in color, always white, but this was no water cloud.

It really was the Northern Lights, the aurora borealis. Wheeee! Another Bucket List item! On the one hand I wished that someone else was there to see it with me. And on another, I could just be myself without an audience to watch me laugh, clap my hands, grin, repeat "thank you, thank you" and be so grateful that I got this display.

My camera and its current settings which I'm not sure how to alter were insufficient to capture any image. So, I pulled the above picture off the internet. It was the one that most closely resembled my experience....not quite as bright, perhaps, but then the above is only a picture and I now have a memory.

A good night following a day where we awoke to sunshine! This was the first time we've seen sunshine in the morning in weeks. We've had a few sunny afternoons, but not mornings. Now again this morning we have sunshine. This is a very good thing and now that it is 12:16 p.m., I should get out of this room and off of this blog to enjoy the weather.

Following my curmudgeonly blog regarding passenger comments, yesterday was our usual Tuesday aboard the Zuiderdam to again expedite folks onto their Cruisetour. I kid you not. The VERY FIRST passenger I greeted with "Good morning. Do you know what tour you're on" answered "I'm not on a tour. I'm leaving today." I caught Nathan's eye, we graciously seated the passenger and then walked behind a wall to just laugh. Sometimes stereotypes exist for a good reason.

Mike returned from Dawson City after a four day familiarization trip there. Dawson City is the location of Rabbit Creek, now known as Bonanza where the first Klondike gold was discovered in 1896. Mike is now qualified to drive the e-coaches, commonly called the Moosemobiles. Although different coaches have different animals featured, they're just generally called Moosemobiles and his actually did have a moose on it. These are far more luxurious than the local coaches used for shore excursions.
He learned where to take photo and leg stretching stops and a whole passel more about the Klondike Gold Rush. He took a rafting trip, watched a show with can-can girls and, along with a few others on his fam tour...became inducted into the Sour Toe Cocktail Society.

To join this elite group, you must take a shot in which lies a human toe. A real...dead...human...toe. It sits in salt or alcohol when it isn't being part of the initiation rites. You're not "in" unless this blackened item touches your lips. The further it sits in your mouth, the more "respected" you are. He shared the photos, but I'll let him post them on HIS Facebook page. After all, this is my blog and the photos are gross. He and all of his friends took their shot with the toe in it and they held the toe between their lips, removed the glass and had their profile photos taken.

He seems to think I would do this if I was in Dawson with a group of people. The power of peer pressure. Most of the tour directors who travel with their groups through Dawson have done this and I suppose there is nothing contagious or otherwise toxic about it due to all the salt and alcohol. Still....yuck. And people actually put it in their wills that their toes be cut off post-mortem to become part of the toe stock. Apparently, the toe is changed out every month or so. His prize for being in the society? A certificate stating he has passed the initiation rite and a card that entitles him to free Sour Toe Cocktails for life. What a bargain.

Happily, his other photos included the architecture of the town, his rafting trip (which included his guide's dog on the raft), a view of the town from the overlook, a historical gold dredge, and a steamship. I'll help him get his photos up on FB later this evening hopefully.

On the not so happy front, I have updated my resume and begun posting it out again. 6 applications so far to Banner Boswell or Thunderbird in home care and med-surg. So far have received 3 "no's" and 3 without any response yet. An e-mail from management at Serenity says there are no current job openings. Hospice of the Valley...also nothing in the western half of the valley. If I could teach skiing, I'd consider Lake Tahoe in a hearbeat. However, I really would like to do more nursing work and see more of family and friends in Arizona.

LOL...and on a happier note. One of the phrases heard in the Sales & Service Department is: "Not my chair. Not my problem." This, of course, indicates an issue that has come up and we have either finished whatever we can do to resolve it or realized that it isn't something that has to do with our department. It is NEVER said to guests or to others with the issue, but only between ourselves. When we went out to dinner for Liz's birthday, there was a ratty old chair with a torn seat. Someone thought it would be a great photo to illustrate this idea. Too bad the lighting is what it is and we totally lose Abby's most expressive face!


Contrary to what you may think from reading my blogs, most of our guests are NOT difficult. I really enjoy talking with most of them. I don't know if I mentioned back in June, but I seemed to collect people...especially old men...who would like to just hang by the desk early in the morning when I was alone and just talk. There was one frail man who tole me about being on a cruise in 1986 and having hiked to the top of the nearest mountain. I said all the right ooh's and aah's and actually was genuinely interested. After all, a good hiking story is something I'll always appreciate. He kept saying how he had photos at home to prove it (not that I doubted him) and I said I'd love to see them.

Lo...and behold...on Monday I received a large envelope from Wisconsin. I do not know anyone from Wisconsin so was very confused. Inside were scanned photos from his photo album and a copy of that day's journal from his trip in 1986. Also included was a VERY nice note from his wife that included the words:

"Thank you for the interest. It meant a lot to Howard. He enjoyed the climb... and I'm so glad he got to do it in 1986 because he would not have made it in 2010."

This may mean more to me than any M.O.O.S.E. recognition pin...that I made someone's trip memorable. It also underscores the imperative to follow your dreams while you have the health or youth or energy or drive to do so. The other lesson is yet one more reminder that the frail elderly person in front of you was not always so...and may have more to share and teach. All we have to do is listen.