The View

As a winterover, or even a typical Antarctican, it's hard not to stop and stare at the view on a daily basis. In a land of nothing, there sure is a lot to look at. The sky is endless, the mountains grand, the amazement of still having open water and on and on and on.

Snow covered, winterized vehicles in the cargo yard.

The Antannae of Arrival Heights.

Swirly, blowing snow.

Clouds!

NASA Golf ball, weather observation station against a sunlit sky.

For White Mountains Majesty!

A Steamy Sunset over Hut Ridge.

A closer look.

A wider view.

Look at all those colors!

Gorgeous!

All Hail the Safety Toga

In Antarctica, safety comes first because just about everything is trying to kill you. Every day, we have toolbox safety meetings that address a variety of issues from forklift safety to ergonomics. As the season progresses, the safety meetings can begin to sound like a bunch of sounds slurred together rather than discernible words.

For my week of presenting safety topics I tried to spice it up a bit with the Safety Toga and this incredible safety rap video.

Toga! Toga! Toga!

So very awake.

Kiwis Stitch-n-Bitch Too

It's true, Kiwis stitch-n-bitch too, and this Tuesday, they invited us over to do our bitchin' and stitchin' by the light and comfort of their lovely fireplace. We sipped wine, swapped celebrity crush stories, chatted about biomimicry and crafted up a storm.

Karen, Shandra and Jana smile the evening away.

Ang is crocheting a hat!

Melanie works on some cross-stitch while
Lan knits a square for the charity quilt.

Thanks to Jana for inviting us over, to Shandra for
organizing and to Melanie for driving the shuttle!

Melanie!

Shandra!

Karen!

Ang!

Lan!

Me!

The Coffee House is OPEN

This.is.incredibly.exciting.news! Last winter, the Coffee House was closed for the season, although we had Coffee Bar at Gallagher's. It's exciting news for those of us that are less enthused by the bar scene and more excited about chill ski-lodge, movie-watching, game-playing, coffee-sipping comfort. Yay!

Shawn is waited on by Cara and Brett (barista in training).

'Tis the Season of Beautiful Skies

And rainbow swirl clouds!

Chelsea Lou Who Whoville Hat

That's right. Here in Whoville, it helps to have a fabulously funky hat. And while my purple fleece hat is my favorite (it has unbelievably perfect and amazing ear coverage), I like to mix it up. So I made myself this one:

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?