kadmium

Well, okay. So two days after that last post, it started snowing. And it snowed for a while. We’ve gotten about 6 inches in the last couple of days, and everyone is happy. Especially Lola. She likes to just go out and sit in the snow. I think she would stay out there all day if she wasn’t so attached to our company.

The snow makes things look so much better, all white and sparkly. But I think my favorite thing about the snow is that it makes everything so quiet. All the traffic from the big street a couple of blocks up gets muffled; car doors don’ slam, they thud softly; our voices don’t echo off the houses when we’re walking through the neighborhood. Everything seems much calmer.

So tomorrow Dad and I leave on our Antarctica excursion. I’ve been so swamped at work that I’ve barely had time to think about it, so I’ve been packing like a fiend all night, trying to find the right combination of clothes and gear to get me through 12 days on a boat and tromping around the Antarctic Peninsula in summer. And trying to keep it to one checked bag and one carry-on. It’s going to be close.

Everybody have fun while we’re gone. Penguins all around when we get back!

How great that the snow is coming! I admit - after the four winters in Denver, I'm actually missing the snow. It was so clean and pretty there with the dry climate. Here in SoCal, El Nino is coming this year . . . . . .

I hope you can get above the Artic Circle this winter - then you'll be one of the few folks I'll ever know to have been in both, much less in the space of a few months!

Comment posted by Heather | December 14, 2002 07:48 AM

Have a great trip Dave. Frances and Jamie would like a penguin if you can fit one into your bag on the way back.

Comment posted by BKM | December 14, 2002 08:01 AM

OK - couldn't resist to add this set of comments. Just heard on the radio this is the anniversary of Amundsen's arrival at the South Pole (1911). I became much more educated about polar explorations when living in Norway, as those Norwegians are so central. To learn more about Amundsen, go to http://www.south-pole.com/p0000101.htm .

If you haven't watched the BBC series that was on PBS several years ago, "The Last Place on Earth", about Scott & Amundsen's race to the pole, it is a great show. Really draws you into the struggles both parties faced.

The arctic explorer who made the most of his life, however, has got to be Fritjof Nanssen. He used his fame to become instrumental in the establishment of UN efforts to rescue and support refugees.

Dave as you pack, remember this the Norwegians say: "No bad weather, just bad clothing!"

Comment posted by Heather | December 14, 2002 08:09 AM

I have indeed found that clothing can make or break your experience. The right clothing made a tremendous difference in my acclimation up here.

By the way, here's a little tip about posting links in the comments section. If you type the full URL, including the "http:⁄⁄", it will automatically be converted to a clickable link. Heather, I edited your comment above to illustrate. The caveat is that you have to have a space after the end of the url, because that's how the program knows when the link ends. So the sentence above looks a little odd because of the space between ".html" and the period, but on the upside, you don't have to copy and past the URL.

Comment posted by mccreath | December 14, 2002 10:34 AM