October 25th
Time is getting short! We are scheduled to leave the ice on Friday and still things seem very far away. It is nice having the new folks here; they have added new energy to the place and have helped lift the fog from my consciousness. I have not written for some time for several reason but among them is I lacked the motivation to log in and write a short note. So much has happened between then and now.
Jodi’s depression has faded, not entirely, but mostly and I expect she will be almost good as new when she feels the warm sun and gets to experience something new. I am the same in that I felt very tired, unmotivated and down right blah from about mid winter until now. Every day seems the same and no day stands out in my memory, they all just seem to run together into a stream of time that feels like I lived the same day repeatedly. When the first planes were to arrive all the WO’s walked around dreading their arrival and some wanted to hide from the “sunny, bright and cheery faces”, very few wanted them to arrive. I felt the dread of their coming but I also knew that change was something that was inevitable and would provide some diversion from the stream of days. Well they landed even though the temperature was below the minimum and the third plane came here without landing. It is rumored that the landing gear on the second plane froze, so the third turned around to avoid the same problem. The temperature has been to cold for any more flights. I think fate dealt the WO’s gift because only a few new faces arrived and most of those were familiar so the transformation from winter to summer was cushioned a bit.
A really strange thing when I saw a friend from last winter walk off the plane for his summer season. I was overjoyed to see him and gave him a big hug and started to cry, I don’t know what was going on but it felt like the waves of joy rushing over my soul washing the sadness of the long winter away. I have never felt so much relief in my entire life.
Yesterday, we both received our end of season reviews and we each earned a level 5, the highest a person can receive. It is rare that office people get high-level reviews because the people doing our reviews are often trades people who through hard work have risen to a management level. Unlike us they don’t have formal educations and they kind of resent the privileges that our privileged lives have afforded us. They are good people and I respect them immensely for their hard work, I could never match the output of their bodies but that has never been my greatest asset and I think in receiving that “5” they recognize what Jodi and I are good at.
Freshies! One of summers changes is the arrival of fresh fruit. I can only imagine what the early immigrants crossing the Atlantic from Europe to America felt when they spied the first fresh fruits and vegetable they had seen in months. I also remember how as a kid my parents would put an apple or orange in my Christmas stocking and I would grateful but not excited, that same orange a month ago would have been a gift from heaven and I would have savored it like no other. The planes brought us mostly apples and oranges with the occasional mangos and melons and every day since I have had them with my breakfast, lunch and dinner.
On Friday October 28th Jodi and I will leave South Pole (yes I can say it now because time is short and retribution difficult) for what we currently hope will be the last time. Every morning I make the walk from my temporary housing to the station, I look around and try to experience everything as much as possible. The biting cold, the roar of the power plant, the clanking of the tracked vehicles and a place devoid of color and smells, it feels like home and familiar. It is kind of scary to leave not having a future planned, but then I remember how scary it was coming here, not knowing what six months of cold darkness would feel like. Knowing this I sense it is time to move on and experience something new!
Jodi’s depression has faded, not entirely, but mostly and I expect she will be almost good as new when she feels the warm sun and gets to experience something new. I am the same in that I felt very tired, unmotivated and down right blah from about mid winter until now. Every day seems the same and no day stands out in my memory, they all just seem to run together into a stream of time that feels like I lived the same day repeatedly. When the first planes were to arrive all the WO’s walked around dreading their arrival and some wanted to hide from the “sunny, bright and cheery faces”, very few wanted them to arrive. I felt the dread of their coming but I also knew that change was something that was inevitable and would provide some diversion from the stream of days. Well they landed even though the temperature was below the minimum and the third plane came here without landing. It is rumored that the landing gear on the second plane froze, so the third turned around to avoid the same problem. The temperature has been to cold for any more flights. I think fate dealt the WO’s gift because only a few new faces arrived and most of those were familiar so the transformation from winter to summer was cushioned a bit.
A really strange thing when I saw a friend from last winter walk off the plane for his summer season. I was overjoyed to see him and gave him a big hug and started to cry, I don’t know what was going on but it felt like the waves of joy rushing over my soul washing the sadness of the long winter away. I have never felt so much relief in my entire life.
Yesterday, we both received our end of season reviews and we each earned a level 5, the highest a person can receive. It is rare that office people get high-level reviews because the people doing our reviews are often trades people who through hard work have risen to a management level. Unlike us they don’t have formal educations and they kind of resent the privileges that our privileged lives have afforded us. They are good people and I respect them immensely for their hard work, I could never match the output of their bodies but that has never been my greatest asset and I think in receiving that “5” they recognize what Jodi and I are good at.
Freshies! One of summers changes is the arrival of fresh fruit. I can only imagine what the early immigrants crossing the Atlantic from Europe to America felt when they spied the first fresh fruits and vegetable they had seen in months. I also remember how as a kid my parents would put an apple or orange in my Christmas stocking and I would grateful but not excited, that same orange a month ago would have been a gift from heaven and I would have savored it like no other. The planes brought us mostly apples and oranges with the occasional mangos and melons and every day since I have had them with my breakfast, lunch and dinner.
On Friday October 28th Jodi and I will leave South Pole (yes I can say it now because time is short and retribution difficult) for what we currently hope will be the last time. Every morning I make the walk from my temporary housing to the station, I look around and try to experience everything as much as possible. The biting cold, the roar of the power plant, the clanking of the tracked vehicles and a place devoid of color and smells, it feels like home and familiar. It is kind of scary to leave not having a future planned, but then I remember how scary it was coming here, not knowing what six months of cold darkness would feel like. Knowing this I sense it is time to move on and experience something new!
posted by Kirk & Jodi Roberts at 9:40 AM
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