One-month report

One month has passed since I arrived in Skagway. I recognize some people on the streets and a fair amount of my sources know me by name — things that are bound to happen when your town has only 2,000 or so residents and three people putting out the newspaper.

I have a much greater understanding of the town than I did when I was being a tourist my first day, and I've managed to learn a lot when I'm not rubbing my beard or looking at my beard or talking in Spanish with the Bulgarian girl who works at the popcorn store. So here's a brief summary of Skagway as I know it.

Skagway, supposedly meaning "Home of the north wind" or "rough water" in the Tlingit language, has been spelled a number of ways throughout the years, including Skaguay, Schkague, Shkagway, Skagua, Sch-kawai, Skagwa and — I kid you not — Cquque. The town holds the Guinness world record for most people tossing eggs, a fact prominently displayed on its tourism website.

In the summertime, Skagway boasts between two and three dozen jewelry stores, most of which are located within a five-block radius, and all of which will shut down for eight months the second the last cruise ship of the summer leaves. Skagway has three franchised businesses — a Harley Davidson, a RadioShack that also rents out movies and a Starbucks that is also a high-end jewelry store.

Skagway is run by a casually dressed seven-member assembly who wear shirts like this one and this one to meetings. Assemblyman Paul Reichart looks like Matthew Broderick with a beard, while Mark Schaefer looks like this South Park character but with a somehow thicker moustache. Tourism director Buckwheat Donahue may actually be Santa Claus. 

City Hall is the only building in town with an elevator. Then there's historic AB Hall, which, thanks to its unusual wooden facade, is the most photographed building in Alaska. Allegedly, someone sat on the bench outside AB Hall every day last year in a bid to become the most photographed person in Alaska. Doctors and dentists come in from Juneau and Haines once a month for appointments, so residents stay healthy, as long as they don't get sick on the days the doctor isn't there.

I just heard someone belting the national anthem outside, which for a split second led me to believe today was the Fourth of July, because I have lost all concept of time up here. Turns out it's Flag Day. Happy Flag Day!

BeardWatch: I have now gone a month without shaving, the longest no-shave period of my adult life. Weeks two and three were brutal, as I was plagued by itching and I kind of just looked like a Mexican drug dealer for a while. Just relax, beard, I kept saying. It's gonna be OK. I was able to tame my facial hair by applying conditioner and it is now settling into its role, which brings me comfort. I have embraced my savage roots and become one with the wilderness. I am nature, and I am free. A growing experience, if you will.