Happy Camper

Hey Everyone, i've been trucking right along these days. WORK, yoga, WORK, bowl, WORK, bottle beer, WORK, library, WORK, radio show....... i have this little calendar strip from the Sierra Club (1" x 14") on my computer monitor that lists the days and months starting in September 2004 and ends in August 2005. work was a little slow this morning, so i used a permanent marker to cross out the days i've been here so far. when i was done with that, all these blank little days stared back at me and it finally dawned on me how long i will be here. every one of those days i'll be here in this little town, and the strip doesn't even cover the last two months i'll be here. i will be so ready for a vacation. last week, i went to snow school (aka Snow Craft I/Happy Camper). we leave town and stay out on the Ross Ice Shelf for two days and one night to learn some basic outdoor skills for the Antarctic. we cut blocks of hard-packed snow to make shelters from the wind, made piles of snow to hollow out and sleep in, set up tents (double-wall canvas Scott Tents), and heated water for hot drinks and dehydrated meals. we survived no problem. it was a lot like car camping in the snow. to pass the class, though, we had to take care of ourselves and the group and weren't allowed inside the car or the instructor's hut from about noon the first day to noon the second day. it was awesome, and i could've gone for a second night. it was cloudy the whole time, and the wind came and went, but when we were working on building something (a friend and i built the kitchen) we were pretty hot. right before we were going to clean up for dinner, the wind picked up and we had a white-out for about 20 minutes. we just had to hunker down in the kitchen until it blew over. i was cozy in my Scott Tent for sleeping (i slept in a snow mound last year on a camping trip i did with friends and didn't feel the need to do that again). so now i'm qualified if my help is ever needed to fly somewhere and work in a field camp. i'm hoping hard for that time to come. yesterday i learned it was illegal to mail beer, and now my name is on The List. whoops. that's it for now from here.
take care,
Phil