![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaHi, I'm back! : )
June 16
Cold wind and driving snow when we arrive by helicopter up at the research station. Spring is late this year; everything is white. This year it's me, Senior Scientist Guy (SSG), Young Ornithologist Guy (YOG), and German Ornithologist Woman (GOW). We install ourselves in the cabins and get them warmed up; I manage to get a cabin to myself (there are three cabins, all quite small). I cook dinner for everyone. Big Bang progress: 350 words.
June 17
It snows all day. Temperature around freezing point; less wind. There was a warm spell before we came up, so there are actually lots of flowers under all that snow. We discover that some maintenance person from the main research station took down the satellite phone last year and didn't tell SSG. /o\ So we're without one for now. I spend the day indoors, washing dishes and then cleaning the cabin, including scrubbing the floor. Seriously, how hard is it to clean up after yourself when you leave?? *grumpy* I also look through the projects for the year, and YOG and I go outside to check which plants are flowering. Part of my job is to train him up to replace me in July. Big Bang progress: 400 words.
June 18
Still snowing. It clears up a bit in the evening, though. I bake bread and eat it with smoked reindeer heart. Delicious! Then I do measurements on the melting rates of snow beds, which will be repeated every third day. No writing today, since we play a game of Trivial Pursuit in the evening that lasts forever.
June 19
...and it is STILL snowing. Gah, I'm getting tired of this. It clears up after lunch, and I hike down to the lower valley to start snow bed measurements there, too. Then it snows more. We heat up the sauna in the evening and roll around in the snow (at least it's good for something). Big Bang progress: 400 words.
June 20
Gale force winds today, with more snow. Apparently this is the worst weather "backlash" in the summer since they began measurements here in 1991. I record podfic, edit podfic, eat pancakes with lingonberry jam and whipped cream, write postcards, read, write, and teach YOG about differential equations. I love one-on-one teaching! We make a fancy dinner with dessert and everything, it being Midsummer, though we joke about it actually being Christmas instead. Then we get out the guitar and sing songs for a while (mostly leftist songs from northern Sweden, heh). Big Bang progress: 400 words.
June 21
Less wind; still snowing. Temperature up slightly above freezing. GOW had planned to hike down today; she makes a valiant attempt, but has to turn back--there is too much snow on the steep parts to be safe. After lunch I hike up to Telephone Peak with her to get cellphone contact. Wow, it feels good, even in the driving snow--I really needed some exercise. And when I get home I do some thorough stretching exercises, which also feels great. GOW is fetched down by helicopter, and YOG moves into my cabin. I get along well with both of them; I haven't minded at all that I haven't been alone. Big Bang progress: 400 words.
June 22
Barometer and temperature a bit higher, but it continues to snow until the afternoon. I hike downvalley to do snow bed measurements. SSG puts up a net and catches some birds and puts rings on their legs, and I get to hold the birds before we let them go. Big Bang progress: 400 words. I am now over 10,000 words! \o/
June 23
Finally some fine weather! Where fine = about five degrees above freezing, but whatever--there's no snow, and we even get some sun. We're still a little hampered by the snow left on the ground, but I get a fair amount of fieldwork done nevertheless, mostly related to climate research and plant phenology. Sauna in the evening. I make naked snow angels on the lake ice. *g* Big Bang progress: 400 words.
June 24
Another fine day. I climb Telephone Peak to phone home and book a train ticket, and then do more field work. YOG catches a common ringed plover and puts a ring on it, and also puts on a small electronic thingy which keeps track of time and light level, and those two things together tell you which latitude/longitude it's at. I get to hold it! Awww, it's so beautiful. And then in the evening YOG wants to try capturing the other bird in the pair, and we wait in vain for 45 minutes in the midnight cold (yes, we have midnight sun, but that doesn't mean it's warm). Brrrrr. /o\ Big Bang progress: 400 words.
June 25
Some sunny weather today! And also some drizzle, but whatever. YOG and I hike downvalley to do snowmelt measurements, and after lunch I do some other fieldwork while YOG zonks out on his bed (he has a cold). Big Bang progress: 200 words.
June 26
Even better weather. I get up early and hike upvalley to look for Carex nardina, a rare sedge which someone reportedly saw on the northwestern slopes. Lots of snow left still, and I wish I had skis so I could just glide over the snow patches instead of laboriously stomping over them and sinking down. Alas, I do not find the sedge. I do some more fieldwork in the afternoon, and then YOG and I have a well-needed sauna bath. We get it up to 90 degrees Celsius! The lake ice has melted near the shore, so we can pour water with icy slush in it over ourselves when we get too hot. Have you ever noticed how when you pour ice-cold water repeatedly over your head, eventually it turns from feeling bracingly cold to a sensation of physical pain in your head? Fascinating. Big Bang progress: 400 words.
June 27
SSG and I fly down in the afternoon. Hi, internets!
June 16
Cold wind and driving snow when we arrive by helicopter up at the research station. Spring is late this year; everything is white. This year it's me, Senior Scientist Guy (SSG), Young Ornithologist Guy (YOG), and German Ornithologist Woman (GOW). We install ourselves in the cabins and get them warmed up; I manage to get a cabin to myself (there are three cabins, all quite small). I cook dinner for everyone. Big Bang progress: 350 words.
June 17
It snows all day. Temperature around freezing point; less wind. There was a warm spell before we came up, so there are actually lots of flowers under all that snow. We discover that some maintenance person from the main research station took down the satellite phone last year and didn't tell SSG. /o\ So we're without one for now. I spend the day indoors, washing dishes and then cleaning the cabin, including scrubbing the floor. Seriously, how hard is it to clean up after yourself when you leave?? *grumpy* I also look through the projects for the year, and YOG and I go outside to check which plants are flowering. Part of my job is to train him up to replace me in July. Big Bang progress: 400 words.
June 18
Still snowing. It clears up a bit in the evening, though. I bake bread and eat it with smoked reindeer heart. Delicious! Then I do measurements on the melting rates of snow beds, which will be repeated every third day. No writing today, since we play a game of Trivial Pursuit in the evening that lasts forever.
June 19
...and it is STILL snowing. Gah, I'm getting tired of this. It clears up after lunch, and I hike down to the lower valley to start snow bed measurements there, too. Then it snows more. We heat up the sauna in the evening and roll around in the snow (at least it's good for something). Big Bang progress: 400 words.
June 20
Gale force winds today, with more snow. Apparently this is the worst weather "backlash" in the summer since they began measurements here in 1991. I record podfic, edit podfic, eat pancakes with lingonberry jam and whipped cream, write postcards, read, write, and teach YOG about differential equations. I love one-on-one teaching! We make a fancy dinner with dessert and everything, it being Midsummer, though we joke about it actually being Christmas instead. Then we get out the guitar and sing songs for a while (mostly leftist songs from northern Sweden, heh). Big Bang progress: 400 words.
June 21
Less wind; still snowing. Temperature up slightly above freezing. GOW had planned to hike down today; she makes a valiant attempt, but has to turn back--there is too much snow on the steep parts to be safe. After lunch I hike up to Telephone Peak with her to get cellphone contact. Wow, it feels good, even in the driving snow--I really needed some exercise. And when I get home I do some thorough stretching exercises, which also feels great. GOW is fetched down by helicopter, and YOG moves into my cabin. I get along well with both of them; I haven't minded at all that I haven't been alone. Big Bang progress: 400 words.
June 22
Barometer and temperature a bit higher, but it continues to snow until the afternoon. I hike downvalley to do snow bed measurements. SSG puts up a net and catches some birds and puts rings on their legs, and I get to hold the birds before we let them go. Big Bang progress: 400 words. I am now over 10,000 words! \o/
June 23
Finally some fine weather! Where fine = about five degrees above freezing, but whatever--there's no snow, and we even get some sun. We're still a little hampered by the snow left on the ground, but I get a fair amount of fieldwork done nevertheless, mostly related to climate research and plant phenology. Sauna in the evening. I make naked snow angels on the lake ice. *g* Big Bang progress: 400 words.
June 24
Another fine day. I climb Telephone Peak to phone home and book a train ticket, and then do more field work. YOG catches a common ringed plover and puts a ring on it, and also puts on a small electronic thingy which keeps track of time and light level, and those two things together tell you which latitude/longitude it's at. I get to hold it! Awww, it's so beautiful. And then in the evening YOG wants to try capturing the other bird in the pair, and we wait in vain for 45 minutes in the midnight cold (yes, we have midnight sun, but that doesn't mean it's warm). Brrrrr. /o\ Big Bang progress: 400 words.
June 25
Some sunny weather today! And also some drizzle, but whatever. YOG and I hike downvalley to do snowmelt measurements, and after lunch I do some other fieldwork while YOG zonks out on his bed (he has a cold). Big Bang progress: 200 words.
June 26
Even better weather. I get up early and hike upvalley to look for Carex nardina, a rare sedge which someone reportedly saw on the northwestern slopes. Lots of snow left still, and I wish I had skis so I could just glide over the snow patches instead of laboriously stomping over them and sinking down. Alas, I do not find the sedge. I do some more fieldwork in the afternoon, and then YOG and I have a well-needed sauna bath. We get it up to 90 degrees Celsius! The lake ice has melted near the shore, so we can pour water with icy slush in it over ourselves when we get too hot. Have you ever noticed how when you pour ice-cold water repeatedly over your head, eventually it turns from feeling bracingly cold to a sensation of physical pain in your head? Fascinating. Big Bang progress: 400 words.
June 27
SSG and I fly down in the afternoon. Hi, internets!
(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-27 05:22 pm (UTC)