Fire & Ice

Hello everyone,

From 20090630-Sunsets

I saw the sun yesterday. I suppose if I had climbed the glacier over the last few days or perhaps hiked up to Terralab up on the hill I might have seen it sooner. But for me, it shined through the window for the first time yesterday morning just before noon. The wall lit up with shadows and sunlight and I had to pause my conversation to take an opportunity to stare out into it (for at least a few seconds). A few minutes later I was outside basking in it, and I swear it felt like a drug.

From 20090700-LateJuly

We haven't actually been in the darkness really at all if you get right down to it. Our shortest day was around 4 hours and those hours were fairly bright. On the other hand every morning and evening has been really dark and the day is never quite long enough.

One absolutely wonderful privilege we've had is an endless stream of amazing sunrises. I posted a few before, but I think it's only fair to let you all in on a few more :

From 20090630-Sunsets

From 20090630-Sunsets

From 20090630-Sunsets

From 20090630-Sunsets

Besides the sun, we've also had some interesting ice pass by:

From 20090700-LateJuly

From 20090700-LateJuly

From 20090700-LateJuly

Though we passed the solstice a month ago and the sun is now coming up over the glacier, the winter still hasn't fully set in. Our coldest month is yet to come, and with it we might even see the ocean around us freeze completely solid. Even if it doesn't we have a lot of cold snowy days headed our way.

It will be a long winter yet...