The Portal is Passed

Reaching the New Year always seems to bring a definitive change in the vibe of South Pole Station. Once January hits, you start hearing about travel plans, how super-tired people are, and the term “redeployment meeting” begins to increasingly proliferate in the day-to-day conversation of the station. Looking at the roughly 4-month-long summer season from the perspective of someone staying for the whole summer and winter, it really is just a speed bump on the way to the long haul of winter. At least the brief, but intense, span of the summer provides ample fodder for contrast to the mellower and more sustained vibes of winter. Summer is all about seeing lots of people you do not know and have no idea what they have come to the bottom of the planet to actually do. During winter you become intimately familiar with even the most subtle character traits of a lot of the crew. All that being said; the summer rages on unabated at Pole.

Yesterday we were supposed to have had the usual practice airdrop of supplies from the Air Force, but it got pushed back to today (Saturday) and then put off until Monday. To thank the food service crew for their extra work over Christmas, today is another Managers Cook Day. Though I’m not a manager, I have been volunteered (as always) to assist with lunch. Whilst working in the kitchen I’ll be sporting a pink pocket t-shirt that reaches back to my first real job back in high school at the Kingfisher’s Inn, which does not even exist anymore.

We have started to get a few details concerning the turnover to Lockheed and its bevy of subcontractors. It looks like in a little over 2 weeks there will be some transition team people down here to start the process of taking over the managerial reins (or at least figuring out how to do so), as well as getting their winter crew squared away. That’s the part I’m most immediately interested in, of course.

People still are commenting about the New Year’s music, which is nice. I gather the recording that was done off the mixing board turned out well, but the excellent gent who is generous enough to spend his personal time doing the mixing and editing is still working on it. It’s always fun to hear how you sounded as a group, since even hearing oneself on stage can sometimes be difficult if the monitors are not properly configured. If anything is posted online, I’ll pass along links when they’re available.

William Gibson just published a new book of essays titled “Distrust That Particular Flavor”, which I would not mind getting my grubby little paws on.

“Seasons change and so did I
You need not wonder why
You need not wonder why”
~The Guess Who, “No Time”