Station Closed

hello again, station finally closed a little over a week ago. we toasted the plane with champagne from the deck of the Chalet as it flew close by the station and tipped its wings in farewell. watching a C-17 fly towards town and bank hard and fly by was pretty impressive. it was loud, and as the sound of it dwindled, people were quiet. then we cheered.

the kitchen had been stockpiling all the fresh food coming in on the last few planes. they broke it all out at dinner the night of the last flight. salad is now being served at lunch and dinner everyday instead of for dinner once a week. huge bowls of fruit are out at all times of the day- even back home i could not get plums any better than i get in Antarctica (since they're fresh from NZ, of course). a funny concept, though. however, it's a little over a week since station close and the salad is down to the dregs, we're back to Stemmies for fresh vegetables (stems of broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, etc.), and the bananas are perfect for making banana bread. here we go. the sun is setting at night, but still it's too early for darkness. the light at night is beautiful, though. pink mountains and clouds, orange skies- i just wish it weren't so damn cold and windy sometimes, so i could stand outside longer to look at it! the temperatures are going down fast. and the community of about 240 people is starting to take shape- i'm learning first and last names and everyone is getting to know everyone else... for better or for worse.

i found some rope that had been cured with sap or the distilled liquid from wood or something to make it tacky, so when you tie things up with it, it really sticks together. it smells like campfire and the odor is overwhelming. so i put a bunch in a bag and i carry the bag around in my jacket pocket. the smell permeates into my jacket and anything i put in that pocket. i love smelling my hat now.

this week, i'm finally getting over a nasty cold. Shandra, the lady i work with everyday, 10 hours a day, six days a week, until we get new people in August, has had to endure my hacking, blowing, spitting, and snorting while trying to talk with me for the past few weeks. we've been auditing all the material outside in the cold for at least two hours at a time, and i was becoming pretty skilled at the farmer blow. one day, however, the snot was a little too stiff. i blew it out my nose, but its elasticity brought it swinging back up into my face, across my cheek, and onto my glasses. i had to get in the truck to find a kleenex or something. even after all she'd been through so far, Shandra was absolutely disgusted. as appalled as she was, she can laugh about it now, but it was a true test to our working relationship. so now, to save her the spectacles of me blowing my nose onto my face, i just loudly snort the snot back into my throat, one nostril at a time; then through a series of gurgles and what-not, i prepare the phlegm in my throat and hork it into the air, trying to catch the wind for a new personal best in distance. sometimes Shandra would rather me blow my nose onto my cheek.

i've attached some photos- one is of the last flight from the deck. the others are the camp at New Harbor. my friend Jessie was kind enough to lend me some of her photos from a trip she took out there to clean up the camp. you can see the camp on the shore with the mountains in the back, and the valley goes to the left. the other picture is of the solar panel and wind-powered generator i helped set up. mostly, i dug the holes for and put in the anchors, and a little more work in getting the equipment up and tied down. for scale, the solar panels are about nine feet tall and the tower for the wind turbine is a little over thirty feet. i hope you are all doing well!

love, Phil