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!

A Dancing Penguin from Skua

After adding some new batteries to this little guy, I had a Dancing Penguin. He starts up pressing his nose and listens to my music while dancing and flapping his wings (quite cute). Periodically, his belly will light up with various patterns that indicate his "mood" which includes: hungry for more music, happy, sad, and sick (in need of more music). I can also press his nose again as any of these moods are displayed and he will reply with various chirps, songs and dance moves. And this, my friends, is how winterovers stay entertained.

Luckily, the instruction booklet was still taped to his foot, otherwise rather
than cute and entertaining, he might have been annoying and maddening.

Belly lights!

Dance penguin dance!

In Antarctica, Everyone Shovels Snow

And today, I shoveled the steps leading up to B140!

Good thing I was wearing my new furry red Skua hat!

The BEFORE shot, with snow blown and piled high.

Shoveling in the snow!

Poetic Interlude

Shoveling Snow with Buddha by Billy Collins

In the usual iconography of the temple or the local Wok
you would never see him doing such a thing,
tossing the dry snow over a mountain
of his bare, round shoulder,
his hair tied in a knot,
a model of concentration.

Sitting is more his speed, if that is the word
for what he does, or does not do.

Even the season is wrong for him.
In all his manifestations, is it not warm or slightly humid?
Is this not implied by his serene expression,
that smile so wide it wraps itself around the waist of the universe?

But here we are, working our way down the driveway,
one shovelful at a time.
We toss the light powder into the clear air.
We feel the cold mist on our faces.
And with every heave we disappear
and become lost to each other
in these sudden clouds of our own making,
these fountain-bursts of snow.

This is so much better than a sermon in church,
I say out loud, but Buddha keeps on shoveling.
This is the true religion, the religion of snow,
and sunlight and winter geese barking in the sky,
I say, but he is too busy to hear me.

He has thrown himself into shoveling snow
as if it were the purpose of existence,
as if the sign of a perfect life were a clear driveway
you could back the car down easily
and drive off into the vanities of the world
with a broken heater fan and a song on the radio.

All morning long we work side by side,
me with my commentary
and he inside his generous pocket of silence,
until the hour is nearly noon
and the snow is piled high all around us;
then, I hear him speak.

After this, he asks,
can we go inside and play cards?

Certainly, I reply, and I will heat some milk
and bring cups of hot chocolate to the table
while you shuffle the deck.
and our boots stand dripping by the door.

Aaah, says the Buddha, lifting his eyes
and leaning for a moment on his shovel
before he drives the thin blade again
deep into the glittering white snow.

Ta da! Nice and clear...for the next hour or so anyway.

And while shoveling, I had a nice view of
the office window...a light in the darkness.

Skua Party!

Once a season, or when it really needs to be done, Waste hosts a Skua party. Lucky volunteers get to sort through triwall boxes full of items people have put into Skua. In retrospect, this is probably the worst possible job for me, because I can darn near find a use for just about anything. So, as I sorted through bags and boxes of treasure separating out for myself what I might use, I asked myself for everything else if someone else might use it. All in all we got through the necessary boxes and were able to help waste separate out a lot of unwanted crap. The reward, naturally, is the Skua treasures I found!

The e-mail.

SKUA PARTY! Justin and Dan up front, comparing jewels!

My Skua Treasure Bag!
Gems include a fake crow, an Indian pillow, a bamboo box,
fake leaves, running shoes, sparkly costume tiaras,
a big-ol'-ball-o'-yarn, stationary and some clothes!
SCORE!

Skua'd fake grapes!
Washed and nicely displayed in a bowl in my room.

A sparkly snowflake!
My eye still has a gleam for anything sparkly!

A sarong that I used to cover one of my lights on the ceiling of my room.

Doesn't it look nice?

Bohemian Heaven: My Winter Room

After gathering a few remaining skua treasures and getting the last of the lights up, my winter room is finally done. I'm calling it Bohemian Heaven.

Care to take a tour?