Banana Boat

The blush is back on our cheeks.  Bananas at breakfast, apples at lunch, lemon and parsley on our calamari, and virtually unlimited root vegetables around the clock -- we got freshies on the boat AND the plane.  And our hands are sore because we once more have to cut things with dull, dull knives.  To be fair, there are sharpeners, and I mostly cut meat from a bag, but still, after months of ripping open plastic bags of frozen diced onions, it's a little bewildering to have cases and cases of moldy onions that require thought to process into food.  And why do we peel carrots, wasting precious nutrient-rich skins?  Mom, you need to impress upon the NSF the importance of eating whole vegetables.

The supply vessel has departed, and the bottled-up (wait for it) tension of nearly two weeks without alcohol sales has finally been released like the pleasant uncorking of champagne (ba-dum-chh).  Here's what most of a year's supply of science equipment, vehicles, food, and other stuff looks like (can't get enough of those power lines):

And...it's hard to remember exactly what filled this week.  I watched some "Futurama" and scored a November "New Yorker" from a friend.  A lot of people are starting to count down the days left, because even when you like a place it can get grueling doing similar stuff six days a week.  I have achieved a certain level of stasis and am anxious about the tumult of leaving and travel and another distant job.  I really like New Zealand and seeing new places and cooking for myself and sleeping in; but it's also been nice to have some routine, some degree of fulfilled expectation -- even when that expectation is that you will be tired and your boss will do something really stupid.  So, as dad said the other day, I will try to soak it all in for the next few weeks, and get a good dose of life at McMurdo.