October 23, 2009

Hello. Hello. Hello! :)
So the Summer Season at Palmer Station has officially began. The big orange boat has come and gone. Taking with it the remainder of the Winter-Over crew and bringing  us 12 Summer folks. The feel on Station has changed for sure. Having Science here brings a whole new energy. The Birders ( two girls that are documenting the penguins and the giant peterals around a 3 mile area of station) are out in the boat everyday, the Krillers (three grad-students that are documenting the krill pattern. Everything down here eats the krill- Krill are tiny like shrimp)  Are all set and building their boat down on the pier getting ready to head out on the water as well. Lots more radio traffic and lots more hungry people. Diane also is here. She is the 2nd cook. What a blessing she is. Not only is she an amazing women, but she is an excellent baker and makes me feel like I do  nothing all day long. She has TONS of energy! :) She started cooking breakfast and lunch on Wednesday. It frees me up greatly to do "manager" type stuff. I think I spent $6,000.00 yesterday replacing all our old equipment. Of course it won't be here until the month before I depart, but hey, at least I get to see it. The weather has been so beautiful. Clear cold sunny days. have been able to get out in the back yard ( the area from station to the glacier) and snow shoe around, see some penguins and seals. Slowly the wildlife is coming back for summer. The snow is melting ( it does that here on the peninsula, it is wetter here than other parts of the Continent and warmer as well) we have had a couple days of rain which speeds up the melting. This is an important part, to have rocks exposed so that the birds can start their nesting. The Giant Peteral and the variety of penguins we have here make their nest out of rock. So if it is covered in snow???? No babies. We are a total of 30 people on Station now. It will stay that way until December. It's a nice way to ease into the Season. Our first cruise ship comes November 16th. Crazy. It's our favorite one though. National Geographic Explorer http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/home
We have a great relationship with them and their crew. They take a couple of us out with them to tour the area for the day and we get to enjoy their ship and crew and be spoiled rotten. It's quiet lovely. :) And they always come over to our bar (the crew) and we have a little party and snacks.
Well this is getting a bit long so I will let you all go. I have uploaded new pictures on flickr.
I hope you enjoy. And I also hope that this email finds you looking forward to a very fun and "FALL-type" day where ever you are.
Again, Thanks for sharing this adventure with me and sharing your life as well.
Cheers,
Stace