Well, it's taken a whole week, but I've finally adjusted to life in Skagway. It was a bit lonely for the first few
days and the thought of having to endure it here for five months was overwhelming, but those few concerns have
faded. I'm enjoying the small-town life, which is actually much smaller here than in Anniston and right now I'm
hoping that the end of the season never comes. People here are very friendly. When you walk down the street,
everyone you pass says hello and people sometimes strike up conversations with you just to find out where you're
from and if you're in for the summer or just visiting. Everyone knows everyone else here and people are calm,
carefree, and tolerant of everything, which is the polar opposite of life in Alabama, or anywhere else I've ever
been. It's also safe here, with one of the lowest crime rates in the world. People here go for walks in the
middle of the night, they don't lock their cars, and they don't even lock their houses. NOTHING bad happens here!
The two guys I work with in the kitchen are cool. First is Scott, a thirty-something chef working his second summer
season in Alaska. His second and his last, because he's actually going to be opening a restaurant in Vietnam this
November. He's technically my boss but he's nothing like a boss. He has a lot to oversee and take care of, but he
never gets stressed out and never loses his temper over anything. He laughs, jokes, cuts up, and even set up
internet connections for the rest of us to use at work anytime we want. Secondly there's Daniel, a Seattle native
who's my age and has come up to Alaska for the first time to make money because he has a baby on the way. He's also
very cool and we've hung out quite a bit this last week. Daniel also came up with one of the greatest and most quotable quotes I've ever heard. It is as follows: "I promised myself I was gonna stop swearing and I did really good....last night while I was asleep, but then I woke up this morning and as soon as I opened my eyes, the first word out of my mouth was 'fu*@!'" Also, Steve, the guy who hired me, had a barbecue for all
the employees at his house Saturday night. We built a campfire in the backyard (you can literally make a fire
anywhere you want to up here) and cooked out for about seven hours. The wind was ripping through town at about
twenty miles an hour and was cold as hell, but nobody really cared....that's just the spirit of Alaska.
Speaking of which, I had forgotten how much I'd fallen in love with this place when I came up last summer. Cruise
ship is definitely the best way to see Alaska, because you move a lot and you see things that you can't even get
close to when living in one of the towns, but being land-locked makes it quite a bit more personal. To just be
able to breathe the clean, mountain air, walk in the dirt, feel the rain on your face, and put your hands in a
freezing river is almost like touching God. I'm no closer than I ever was to understanding the power this land has
over people, but at the same time I am....just not in a way that can be put into words. I wish I could literally
get every one of you up here to see this, because these pictures I'm posting are sh*@ compared to the real thing.
It is so incredibly beautiful up here, but it's an almost overwhelming beauty. This may sound strange, but it's a
beauty that can be harmful if you're not prepared for it. I'll let you ponder the meaning of that.
Keeping an eye out for the northern lights, too, but I apparently just missed them. Last weekend when I was in
Juneau, they had a pretty intense display one night, so it's still not too late in the season to catch them. I'll
keep looking. Until then here are the latest photos:
Me, Scott (middle), and Daniel (right) on opening night. I'd been cleaning up and that's why I'm not dressed as snappily as they are.
Shots from the ferry ride from Juneau to Skagway:
And now downtown Skagway and the waterfront, the mountains, and the river:
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