Food Pull

I've been critiqued for not updating in awhile, so I might be grabbing at some straws here. First of all, I think I'm back in the game. Some people seemed a bit concerned from the last entry, but I assure you I am just fine. In fact I found everything that was 'stolen' from me in a trunk in my room, so that was pretty good.

May was full of birthdays and they just keep coming. It's kind of fun to scrounge around for ridiculous gifts that sum up people in a single pair of socks, a bookmark, a homemade belt, etc. Last Thursday we had a joint party for Dave and Kari in conjunction with some of the pool tournament games in the B1 Pod, so it was a nice change of venue and nearly everyone on station was there at some point. Here's Andy our station manager playing (picture by Heidi):


Today we did a food pull in the old dome. A bunch of stuff is on the foundation of the old Comms building, so we had to move it off of there so they can start tearing that down as part of the demo project. It was very similar to the first days of winter when we packed up the fueling system, or did the booze pull, except now you can tell who the person next to you is just by the way they stand even though they are wearing 10 layers of clothes. And now of course it's acceptable to push people over, tackle them, and tease them to no end if they drop anything, or even if they don't:
This morning was terrible for me and I couldn't seem to get my feet warm, and after devouring a burger the size of my head at lunch and many, many fries, I didn't feel too good after lunch either. But I added more layers, put some feet and hand warmers in my boots and gloves and it was much better.

Right after we finally finished a lot of us took the outside route back to station, and when we looked up there was the biggest, baddest aurora I've seen yet. A huge, green band across the sky, that was so defined that it looked like a stream of water, then it moved into a weird asymmetrical archway over the station. It was so awesome. Everyone was just floored and since we were dressed appropriately people were laying, sitting, tripping, kneeling, laughing all over the place. I laid down in between two drifts of snow like a little hammock and it was a great moment, when I could feel the place sucking all the heat right out of me and was reminded that no one was really meant to be down in this kind of environment, and yet I looked over and there are all these black shadows of people scattered all over the hill in complete awe at some bizarre light display over the barest landscape on the planet. Not a bad afternoon. I made it until I couldn't feel my entire backside and the auroras had faded into a low, cloudy, blur. Here is one of Jason's pictures of the southern lights a few days ago:

Flow of Winter

Travis said at break yesterday that we were certainly now in winter. I disagreed at first since it doesn't feel much different lately, but then I looked up and saw Kari swaying on the work bench with a 10ft stare, walked into plumbers shop to find Derek painting 'WHATEVER' on his carharts in white-out, BFK of all people had the giggles for the entire day, our doctor is counting down the days we have left, I did my hair curly and people freaked out because it was a change, stories about sleepless nights are circulating, and we played two hours of full court basketball last night and no one quit. So, yes, I think we are in the groove of winter. I haven't noticed too many bad signs in myself lately, although, the other day I had a momentary panic attack about what I'm going to do after this. I don't have a problem sleeping like everyone else seems to have, but I've started getting slight paranoia. I sometimes go in my room or my office and can't find something, like my backpack, or a shirt, and I first assume that someone has come in a stolen it, as a joke or for themselves and get very frustrated. Then I have to remind myself to keep looking because it's usually there and I just can't see it, or my room is too messy, but while I'm looking for it, I start thinking about who would have taken it and when and what their motive was. So, if you have my triathlon t-shirt, neck gaitor, North Face shorts, or my Sporthill long sleeve, I want them back.

We had a cool aurora storm yesterday. I still haven't suited up and spent a significant amount of time out during one, but I promise to for the next one. Emrys says that I can't take a picture of them with my camera, and I've accepted that challenge so I have to get at least one good photo. Here is one of Robert's from April:


Because of the satellite times it is very inconvenient to call the states, but I got a chance to talk to Katie for quite awhile on her birthday the other day. It was awesome to catch up with someone from back home who knows me so well, and whose advise and comments I respect a great deal. I probably could have talked for hours, and it of course made me miss all my girlfriends. Anyway, thanks for the refreshing break from this place!