The trickle becomes a flood

Seated: Alix, Rex, Ashley, a town friend, Sarah, Mike, Matt, Erin, Christopher

Standing: Liz, Abby, Kayce, Jeremy and Thomas

One by one and two and three by two and three….people are heading back from whence they came. It is now a week and a half since we said good-bye to Sarah. She planned all kinds of hiking and activities for her last couple of days here along with a big spaghetti dinner the night before her departure. A bunch of us gathered in the hallway and provided pieces of the meal. I confess to being lazy and providing the spaghetti and grated cheese. Ok…it WAS freshly grated cheese and not cheapy cheese in a green cylinder!

Sarah

My best memories of Sarah are those that she created in creating community meals for us to break bread together. I don't know how much she can appreciate what a gift that was for all of us. I so appreciate being around someone who wears their faith so comfortably without evangelizing. I will miss her joy, her integrity and her steadiness. She grew so much as a person this summer without ever losing who she had been when she arrived.

Just like we’d all taken Nathan to the airport, so we took Sarah to the airport on Friday, August 20. It was another rainy, cloudy day. Happily for her the weather wasn’t so soupy that we were socked in and her flight left on time. She made all her connections and made it safely back to Orlando. She is so missed, as is Nathan. Our department is like a starfish with two arms lopped off.

We’ve had a pretty set schedule most of the season but with the two members gone, we have shifted to different duties. Sarah had been the one to ride the train twice a week, collecting payment for local excursions from people who are completing their land tour. These folks had just booked excursions through their tour director for their last day on their Cruisetour…here in Skagway…prior to embarking their ship.

Working the train, one needs to be an octopus…carrying a tote bag, a credit card machine, a clipboard, pens, pre-written vouchers, blank vouchers and extra stuff in the bag. It’s a chance to ride the train and if it isn’t too busy, I can actually enjoy the trip. But days like Saturday…no enjoyment...because the tour director didn’t fax in their advance sales. This means having to do all the payment stuff AND also write out vouchers while on the train. I was still writing up tickets and accepting payment 1-1/2 hours later on arrival at the depot here in town! Happily, yesterday was a beautifully sunny day, people were friendly and didn’t bitch at all about their arrival into Skagway and conflicting with their ease of boarding their ship.

In order to keep the desk covered, we’ve had some other creative solutions: like working half days. A little over a week ago, Mike was off and I worked 7 a.m. to noon. As a side note, Mike and I haven’t had a full day off together since our trip to Laughton Glacier back in mid-July! But on this half day off we headed up to International Falls to hike. I. Was. Not. In. The. Mood. Sarah had just left on Friday. Things were changing. Good-byes are hard. So I was in a major crank mood and didn’t even want to be around myself.

We walked around a little bit, but nothing I'd call a hike and that was my fault. Mike built a cairn. It’s a thing up around the U.S./Canadian border for the tourists to build all these random cairns. So Mike made his mark in rocks.

I’m also going to be driving the sprinter when Sales and Service shuts down. I had my DOT physical….and found out just how deaf I am. Then there was 2 hours of training last Monday. It was more about rules, regulations, where to park and pick people up…and driving backwards around traffic cones. I actually drove this past Wednesday, just some transfers around town. It was fun and, oddly, I was a little nervous. Don't know why. I'd done mini-shuttles all summer, so it really wasn't anything much different. Only thing was now I was on the same radio channel as all the other drivers all day. It was rather entertaining because at about 7 a.m. one of the drivers drily reported a naked man bathing in Pullen Pond. Pullen Pond is not a remote area...it is on the pathway between the ships and town. You can't miss it!

The day I drove was a long day because I worked 5:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. driving and then 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the desk. Now it turns out that the clinic didn’t run the drug test when I had the physical so I had to re-pee in a cup yesterday afternoon. Ok. Whatever. At least the clinic person didn't spill my cup over like she did to one of the drivers' cup! (The drivers have random drug testing all summer.)

Weather has been mostly cool and rainy the last couple of weeks. This is the rainy season up here, so we’ve seen more rain with our clouds than we had been seeing. There are some early sales in the stores which I’m hoping will become bigger sales towards the end of the season.

Because of so much working, there have been no other adventures. We went to the Red Onion for pizza the other night. Just as we were leaving, the band was coming in for the evening and it was Adam from Takshanuk 4x4’s band. I was so bummed because I would so like to have heard his band. But no. The Guida’s had lights out by 9:15 p.m. Those early mornings are SO early!

A large pizza runs about $30, so we eat very little of it and hope to keep the rest for at least one more meal, possibly even two more meals. This was not possible because of the pizza thief. Which is not to be confused with the IDIOT WHO KEEPS TAKING FOOD OUT OF THE REFRIGERATOR AND PLACING IT ON TOP OF THE REFRIGERATOR!!!!

But let's not talk about the Westmark kitchen. I like my blood pressure to remain within normal limits. Back to the Red Onion: We had no intention of going out and spending more money. But Deb, who runs trivia, specifically asked us what categories we were interested in because trivia was starting up the very next night. We got a few people together and went over the next night and played trivia...losing by only one point. It was fun, but loud and hard to hear her. It reaclly cuts into the enjoyment struggling so much to hear. We named our team "23 more ship days." By the end of the first round we renamed ourselves: "22 more ship days." Before round two was over we officially became: "21 more ship days."
Sunday evening brought our final, end of the year party for the company. Like the Back Office Party, it was held at Jewell Gardens. Unlike the Back Office Party, the food was grown-up food: appetizers, crab, steak, an excellent dessert, beer and wine. But first...the talent show!

Oh. My. God! How fun was that! Was able to video the entire thing which, happily for you, dear reader, I promise not to post. For one, you don't know the people or the routines upon which many of the jokes were based. Two, each video performance is too long to upload. There were no lame performances at all!!!! And some were wet-your-pants funny. Some of these folks can really sing, too!

Emcee Jo;B-boxing Casey (3rd place), beach ball ballet dancers Jeremy and Manz (2nd place)
Skit and songsters Christopher and Matt with Logan in the middle--added to the skit at the last minute without her knowing she would make the climax of the skit (1st place)

Scoring was done by two bosses and Terry (mentioned below) on a point system. Who won wasn’t necessarily who I would have chosen. Hands down I would have put Manz and Jeremy’s ballet with beach ball as first. Sean seducing all the women with aMarvin Gaye “Let’s Get It On” rendition was a clear second. And ok…I probably would have put Casey’s b-boxing in third place…which is exactly what he won.

In between each act, awards consisting of a certificate and candy bar were handed out for both funny and serious categories. We’d had our monthly meeting a couple days prior where real awards were handed out…the MOOSE pins. I got my level II pin. Someone has to have said good things about you to have gotten MOOSE pins all season in sequence. Mike got a gold pin which is the highest level you can get. (Level IV) As always, I am very proud of him.

The management thanked everyone again and gave out employee of the year to Terry Ashton, head of the wash crew. He so totally deserves it. He is very willing to help everyone out at any opportunity. Employee of the year wins a free cruise anywhere in the world for themselves plus one more person…without having to go by stand-by.

Who would have thought both Mike and Reegis would have on
yellow Hawaiian shirts?!?!?!?

After the talent show and dinner was dancing in the gazebo. Too much fun! It made me miss home and going out with the kids to Margaritaville. Actually it might have been even more fun than Margaritaville because the whole party was composed of people who are my friends up here. You go to a club and you know some of the people. This time we all knew everyone there. Everyone was dancing with everyone else and you saw some of the most unlikely dancing.

Manz has his own unique style. Liz was cutting up and looking good with Jake. Layla and Tom made it their own intimate space. Yours truly sandwiched by two young men. (I know…that’s a visual you’re probably happy to have missed!) Kayce wore make-up and danced for the first time in her life and looked quite the stylin’ clubbin’ girl. Big smiles were all around. We jumped up and shouted, yelled Ghostbusters, stomped with each foot, got tricky and even a moment of Cotton Eyed Joe. No one wanted the party to end. It was going to continue at one of the employee housing spots, but I had to be at the desk at 7 a.m. and it was time for us to NOT continue partying.

Yesterday was our last ship day for Sales & Service and it seemed to be a time of party hopping…not big company-wide parties, just smaller impromptu parties. First off was a beer at the Red Onion with all our department and a few folks who work on the Zuiderdam. They also had pizza, but Mike and I walked over the creek and checked out the last of the spawning salmon. They look pretty sick at this point.

We then traveled on to the Fish Co. for Daisy’s 23^rd birthday. There were a bunch of us and we had a great evening eating, singing happy birthday and watching the ships depart in the early evening darkening sky. Mike ordered and actually ate an entire rack of ribs by himself. That is so unlike him! The highlight was the ride home. A bunch had ridden over and we hassled them on how they had to walk SOOOOO far…and what…did they have reservations that they couldn’t miss? Well, they did have reservations! LOL

We headed home on foot and they pulled up and yelled at us. They were piled into that car like a 1950’s “how many people….” So what were two more? I don’t know who I was lying on top of. I know there were photos taken. What I don’t know is where those photos are now. I also do know that there were ELEVEN of us in this little compact!

Back: Reegis, Liz and Thomas
Center: Rex, Dallin, Jon, Kayce, Bethany and Erin
Front: Kenny and Sean

Once back at the Westmark, it was ice cream impromptu party to say good-bye to Liz. And a lot of fun silliness went down. The trend was for everyone to pick Liz up...starting with Thomas. Hilarity to mask the sadness of the good-byes. It really is a likable bunch of people!

Earlier in the day we’d hugged Matt good-bye. Liz left this morning at 9:25....she is now between Seattle and Chicago, her home. Tonight is Kenny’s last night. Tomorrow night is Sean’s last night. Once the good-bye door is opened, the trickle becomes a flood.

If I had to say that I grew closest to anyone up here, it probably has to be Liz. The mere fact that she was here was a good start to liking her. She didn’t live in the college towns were HAP-AY does its recruiting. She didn’t know anyone. She just went onto coolworks and looked for something away from home. And she has considerable family ties and responsibilities that had to be stretched for her to accomplish this goal.

Did Liz know she'd match the flowers?

She often called herself a nerd. I hope she realizes that every day, every new chapter is an opportunity to be freed from an imposed identity. That identity can be imposed upon you by the world around you, friends, family, co-workers, fellow students, bullies. Or it can be self-imposed. A geographic change is a very good way to reinvent oneself…to grow. And never be quite the same again.

She has definite goals that she is focused on. She has an infectious laugh and it often is used to laugh at herself when the occasion arises. She’s bright, bubbly, and thoughtful. She knows what she wants and what she doesn’t want, but is still able to bend those rules a little to accommodate the little surprises that come along. And then gets back on track.

Kayce, Erin, Rex and I went with her to the airport this morning. We didn’t cry. She didn’t cry. Ok, so I got a little misty-eyed. We stood by the terminal and waved at the plane. Out of the 3 from our department who have left, she is the first to have seen us waving from the ground. I knew that that would be the moment she would probably get teary. And I did receive a text confirming my thoughts. As I texted her back: “Just know our love flies with you and you now have people all over the country that love you…in addition to your family.” From my heart.

Of course, the best part of being a member of Sales and Service were getting to know and work with the 4 other workers and our manager. The good-byes are so very tough. One of the things I did during debarkation was dismiss the groups by group number and say, “Turn around and say good-bye to 1A.” “Turn around and say good-bye to 7B.” And the final group was always 5B. One week someone in 5B asked, “Who is going to wave good-bye to us?” I told them I’ll wave to you! With everyone leaving and us staying until the season’s end, I feel like 5B.

Now it’s the afternoon and it’s another cloudy day in Skagway. And that inner low feeling of saying farewell to a friend is just hanging around my head and within. It’s a day I really miss Arnold who could always just sense a low moment. She’d just lie down right beside me and beg for me to pet her stomach. It always seemed to help.

Since last blog, I have become convinced that 55 year old women with osteopenia should probably not be jumping from cliffs due to the ease in fracturing their coccyx. I’m still glad I did it and am happy to never do it again. We’re fighting off colds…again. This is my third time and Mike’s second. You run into so many people, that many of them are bound to be buggy.

It has been interesting to work in guest services, meeting people and dealing with their problems. The nature of the schedule is that there are a very few busy times and a majority of downtime. So, it would be my preference to return as a driver/guide next year….the work that Mike does. Not only is it more interesting and more varied, the hourly pay and the tips make it more financially rewarding.

Here we’ve had our own little space to live in and Mike and I have been together for several straight months. We only spent 3 nights apart when he went up to Dawson City. How wonderful and different that was from the previous year. We’ve had minimal expenses and been able to save some money. For me, it’s been nice to know what my daily job was. For Mike, it’s nice to know that there’s a seasonal ending to this and he can go on to something else soon. He does like change so!

I try to think what else has made this whole summer such an enjoyable experience and only arrive at just a feeling about it rather than any concrete answers. For one thing, it has been a summer of firsts. First time in Alaska. The salmon run and watching grizzlies run. Walking on a glacier. Cliff jumping. New trails. New history. New routine. Living with a majority of people who are less than half my age. Working with cruise ship passengers. The Northern Lights.

Because of the difference in the people I’m working with, it has a feeling akin to being out on the Appalachian Trail…of forming friendships with people that you might not have become friends with in the ordinary routine of your life at home. Also like the AT, there is a certain percentage of the people who work up here who are true characters…not just wondering who is more of a character between me and Mike…but some really interesting characters. It’s been great to live with people who have a very different perspective on life from a religious point of view and yet many who are similar to me politically.

But what we all share is the belief that leaving home and working at something different and living in a different way is a good thing. For some it is good for a one time experience. And that’s ok. It will allow them to think about this time as a very special time in their lives. It will allow them to remember that there are alternatives. They will be less prone to look at their lives as a rut from which there is no other choice.

For others, it becomes a lifestyle. One of the awards went to Jo for being the person most likely to become a lifetime Skagway seasonal resident. There’s Bruce who came up 20 something years ago and lives here full time. There are several others who have more than 3 seasons coming up to Skagway. Mike very much enjoys doing different things, so it is a challenge to think about returning here next year. But he knows how much I’ve enjoyed it.

I also wonder how different will it be now that I’ve seen the 4th of July in Skagway, seen the seasons change, visited the trails and watched the snow and ice melt, saw the Northern Lights. I wonder how different it will be with different people and maybe different housing. I wonder how different it will be working as a driver guide. And if it is all as wonderful as this year, when would it get boring?

And then there is blogging about living a seasonal lifestyle. It is honest and it is true to my heart. But is it the wisest thing to do when seeking work as a RN? I enjoy the work as a nurse and certainly enjoy the pay. But I also like knowing and living an alternative lifestyle. I like seeing new places and meeting new people…well, not meeting them at parties, of course and having to make inane small talk…but learning their stories. Who are they? What matters to them? What makes them laugh? What are their goals? And as ever, is there anything I can be or do that will make their life a little richer in return?