Easing Back into the 8 to 4:30, and Warming Temps

Klawock Cooperative Association ("KCA") Tribal Buildings

One week ago I got the call, taking me off the unemployment rolls, finally.  It took just 18 months, and 2,500 miles, but I'm now gainfully employed, thank goodness!  Thanks to Martin Luther King Day and a mix-up, I didn't start working until Wednesday, which was nice, as besides me having to adjust back into the working world, Kathy and I have to adjust to having two people get ready for work each morning, and figure out how we do this with one car.  Up to now, it's been very easy.

A week ago, our most challenging weather began, too, with an overnight snowstorm, and drastically lower temperatures, down to single digits.  Oh, and the sun came out!  That day began something like five straight days of clear skies, unheard of since we arrived!  This amazing brilliance had no effect on the daytime temperatures, though, as they stayed in single digits!  That's cold enough, believe me, but add even a little breeze, and my hands began aching within seconds of being uncovered.  Why would I uncover my hands then, you might ask?  Well, I had to in order to take pictures.  Even without the breeze, my face would go numb after just a few minutes:  of course, we had to continue our nightly walks for the sake of the dogs.  :-)  We even notice a big drop in the warmth of the cabin, as it dipped to 46 degrees overnight, a new record by far.

Brady texted me yesterday, from Chicago:  "It's 13 degrees here, do I win?!"  I had to text back yes, it's only 17 degrees here!

Today the temperature jumped up more, all the way to the high 20's, a big improvement, as cloud cover returned.    The ice on the water began breaking up.

Klawock Harbor and back of KCA Building

Back to my new job, Transportation Technician for the Klawock Cooperative Association, a tribe of mixed Tlingit and Haida Alaska Natives.  I'll be tracking costs and progress on tribal transportation projects, from paving roads to building roads, bikeways, and hiking trails.  It should be challenging, fulfilling, and interesting all at once, and working for a tribe is an extra bonus.  

Here's my desk, with a map of Greater Klawock on the wall.  Most of the projects I'll be tracking can be found on this map, but there are others that are outside the city limits.  Up in the right hand corner is Bob's Lake:  one of our projects is to build a trail to and around it.  On the bottom of the map, looking like tan ground, is the Klawock River, and another project will be improving the hiking trail that runs through the forest just above the shore of the river.  


It's been a fun week, and I'm excited to go back to work next week and continue learning more about my job, the projects, KCA, and Prince of Wales.  


How ironic it is that the very next morning after buying plane tickets to visit San Diego for two weeks and a day beginning the last week of February, I get a job!  Putting in for time off for just four weeks after I start is a little awkward.  I've offered to pare it back to a week and two days, and hope this is approved.  Keep your fingers crossed!

The view of the KCA docks out our office window.

Icebergs hung up by the receding tide and warming temperatures in the Klawock Harbor.