More Mail and Getting ready for Winter at the South Pole!

Winter is quickly approaching for us here at the South Pole!  It is a very exciting time, with many changes starting to take place.  The last of the summer IceCube crew left last week, and over the next week and a half, more and more people will be leaving the station and heading home.  For those of us who are wintering, we are starting to get a little more excited as well. Though there is still much to be done before we shift into our winter routines.

I have had a hard time trying to work on my blog lately. Honestly, I kind of feel bad sitting around in my room while there are still so many people on station.  I want to be out hanging out with all the people who are about to leave.  Don't get me wrong, I really do enjoy spending time alone working on personal projects, but in a little over a week our population is going to go from around 150 to around 48, and I will be stuck with those same 48 faces for the next 9 months or so.  I am really excited for the winter to start, but I am trying to get as much last minute socializing in as I possibly can.  It's actually kind of funny.  Part of me is ready for all these summer people to leave so we can get our winter started, but part of me knows that I will miss the diversity of individuals on station.  That being said, we do have a great winter group, and I am definitely looking forward to hanging out with them more and getting to know them better over the winter.

All that aside, since I will be spending the winter here, I have several projects that I want to work on, and I have actually started to make a little progress on some of them.  One of them is actually this blog. I am hopeful that I will be able to post more frequently in the days ahead. I am also hoping to be able to read a ton while I am here.  I have several books that I have been trying to read for a while, but I haven't had the time or motivation to actually sit down and do it.  Part of that was due to school.  It is kind of interesting, I think.  Now that I am done with school, I actually have time to go back and learn some of the things that we didn't have time to cover very well while I was there, and I am really looking forward to it.  I actually picked up my violin for the first time in a while last week.  Suffice it to say I need a lot of practice.  Other than that, there are a handful of other things I would like to work on, but I think I'll save the details for a future post.

I also had an exciting day yesterday, as some mail arrived.  This is potential the last mail we will see for the next 9 months. Some of it I had been waiting on, but some of it was kind of unexpected.  I received three packages.  Two from my aunt Kandy and one from a friend of mine back in Huntsville, Tim.  There were tons of great things in all three boxes, and I am very thankful to both of you.  One interesting thing in Tim's box was a bunch of letters from some kids back in Huntsville from the Boys and Girls Club there.  They ask lots of interesting questions.  So over the next couple weeks, I will be putting together a video response and giving a quick tour around the station.  I will be sure to post the video for everyone who is interested to see.

This is a picture of my room with a new camera and fish-eye lens that I am playing with.

The visibility today is terrible!  I don't think we'll have any flights in today.... 

Some more gifts from Tim!  Those books will come in handy this winter.

The Boys and Girls Club in Huntsville, AL sent these letters and questions.  I'm putting together a video response... Stay tuned!

All this came from my Aunt Kandy!  Thank you so much, this will help satisfy those mid-winter cravings!