Déjà Vu: Ice II: May 2011

Saturday, May 21, 2011

The Glass is Half Full as long as There's Wine in it

To me, it felt strange having the wine tasting so late in the season. My first winter, the wine tasting was the first big event of the season and a really nice introduction to my fellow winterovers. This year, the first event of the season was the fashion show, and that wasn't until the end of April. And I definitely feel a difference in the degree to which the crew this season has become a community.

In my mind, it still hasn't...perhaps midwinter will finally bring everyone together. Until then, I'll just have to enjoy what I can and a night out at the library was most enjoyable.

Victoria from Scott Bass plays some mellow guitar.

Cheers from Desiree!

Kelli and Janette along with John, DJ and Craig mingle and chat.

A divine spread of delectable treats from the Galley.

Along with homemade cheese from our Television Man John.

Jen serves her wine with a smile!

Ang enlightens us on one of the reds.

Brian and Larry share a laugh.

Zachary and I pose for a "who's got hot glasses" shot.

Desiree and Craig!

Justin sings us a song or two.

After tasting all the wines, everything starts to blur.

Me and Brian! We also have hot glasses!

Joseph and Larry.
Little did they know, their night was just beginning.

A good evening with good people and pretty decent wine too!

Friday, May 20, 2011

"Picnic in the Park" at the Greenhouse

The greenhouse has a new ongoing event called "Picnic in the Park." The Galley (or in this case, Emily) makes you a sack lunch, or you can get your own food from and take it up to the greenhouse. Recreation even coordinated shuttles to drive people up so we can all maximize our time amongst the plants.

I signed up for Friday and had picnic lunch with Larry, Joseph, Gareth, Kyle and Emily. It was delightful.

Tomatoes...

lovely tomatoes.

Emily, this year's green house technician.

A jalapeño flower!

Face toward the light, smile on.

Nasturtium leaves - nice and peppery.

The Lunch Bunch: Gareth, Kyle and Larry.

The underside of nasturtiums.

Emily bags the harvest.

Grow plants grow!

Sprouting herbs!

Corn flowers!

Kyle certainly enjoys the greenhouse!

BIG beautiful green leaves!

Cucumber!

A cucumber flower!

Kyle relaxes in the comfy chair.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Fried green tomatoes.

Jalapeños!

Larry lounges in the hammock.

As does Joseph.

Emily harvests some leaves.

Green, leafy heaven.

Kale.

Flowering Bok Choy.

I feel like this sometimes...dried up and barren.

Ahhh...88ºF!

Emily makes me smile.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Let There Be Light

As we muddle through the dark winter months, light therapy is an important part of self-care here at McMurdo. Previously the Green House was the sole source of mood enhancing, good-for-your-soul light, and while it is also nice and humid there, it's somewhat out of the way of my regular comings and goings around town. This year, however, the Light Room has been set up in room 101 of 155, which happens to be just around the corner and down the hall from my winter room.

When it was first set up and opened to the community, the room was dingy and sterile, as are the dorm rooms here. I helped Shandra and Sean clean and organize the room. Shandra brought some tapestries and I made a few pillows out of skua fabric. With those few upgrades, the Light Room is rather enjoyable.

Skua fabric pillows.

One for this chair...

and one for the couch.

Light, comfort...

color, leisure...

tranquility and greenery.
What a nice place to spend some time reading and relaxing!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Rockin' the Rock

When given the opportunity to rock out to LIVE bands in Antarctica, it's wise to go all out. To show my full support and undying love for music and live bands, I chose to dress the part.