10.14.2003
Big Dead Place
Sorry for the brief hiatus. Things have sped up here (that is everything but the internet connection) -- it's already light almost 24 hours a day, planes are coming and going at regular intervals (when weather allows), and our population has doubled (read: twice as many dishes to wash). The days are flying by, and the newness and excitement of being here has worn off. The reality of my sucky job is settling in -- last week was a low point for me. My arms and back were screaming, I couldn't sleep, I was training 23 new people, and I realized that this is a big, cold, dead place (and the pms didn't help). No plants no bugs no mice no cats no dogs no trees no grass no birds no dirt. Just volcanic dust and ice and snow and sky. And us.
This week has been better. My arms are fine now and I'm getting used to the summer pace -- making new friends and getting involved in creative projects. I've been wallpapering our room with labels from canned food, continuing my research on gravity (did you know that time slows under gravity?), working on a circus sculpture and storyboard for a friend's movie, doing research and sketches for an underwater scene I'll be painting in Lucy's dive hut. One advantage to this pseudo-communist lifestyle is that I have more time for creative projects since there are no errands to run or meals to make.
On a positive note, we've moved to a room with a view of the sea ice and the Royal Society Mountain Range. We can see the planes take off and land from the ice runway at Willey Field.
Since the sun is skirting the horizon on either side in long sweeps, the sunsets have been spectacular. This is a photo taken from our window of one 3-hour sunset last week. Erik wandered on the ice for hours taking photos in the snow.
Friday was my day off, and I managed to find some delight in walking around town documenting the graphic design of McMurdo.
Sorry for the brief hiatus. Things have sped up here (that is everything but the internet connection) -- it's already light almost 24 hours a day, planes are coming and going at regular intervals (when weather allows), and our population has doubled (read: twice as many dishes to wash). The days are flying by, and the newness and excitement of being here has worn off. The reality of my sucky job is settling in -- last week was a low point for me. My arms and back were screaming, I couldn't sleep, I was training 23 new people, and I realized that this is a big, cold, dead place (and the pms didn't help). No plants no bugs no mice no cats no dogs no trees no grass no birds no dirt. Just volcanic dust and ice and snow and sky. And us.
This week has been better. My arms are fine now and I'm getting used to the summer pace -- making new friends and getting involved in creative projects. I've been wallpapering our room with labels from canned food, continuing my research on gravity (did you know that time slows under gravity?), working on a circus sculpture and storyboard for a friend's movie, doing research and sketches for an underwater scene I'll be painting in Lucy's dive hut. One advantage to this pseudo-communist lifestyle is that I have more time for creative projects since there are no errands to run or meals to make.
On a positive note, we've moved to a room with a view of the sea ice and the Royal Society Mountain Range. We can see the planes take off and land from the ice runway at Willey Field.
Since the sun is skirting the horizon on either side in long sweeps, the sunsets have been spectacular. This is a photo taken from our window of one 3-hour sunset last week. Erik wandered on the ice for hours taking photos in the snow.
Friday was my day off, and I managed to find some delight in walking around town documenting the graphic design of McMurdo.
