We landed on Saturday (Just barely though). I thought for sure that we were going to get boomeranged on account of mechanical issues, but thanks to the beauty of technology (the load master was using his iPad to sort out the issue) we landed at 1:32pm. It was -37 degrees outside which seemed balmy considering last season greeted us with scary winds and heart stopping temperature of -76.
This whole experience, the second time around, seems oddly and almost frighteningly familiar...almost a sense of home, even though home is 8,000 miles away.
Many things seem familiar, and unfortunately not all of the good things. For example, when I left last season my ability to speak in full sentences, and make sense, was so obviously absent, as was my ability to think complete thoughts... I am sad to report I have picked up right where I left off. However, on the plus side, I am not currently as fried as I was after the last season so instead of my jumbled words being greeted with my own irritation, they are instead a source of comedy...(hopefully my cheerfull disposition over my inability to communicate will stick, because I can't imagine it is going to get better :)
Quite frankly everything from the moment we landed up until now has seemed familiar. I almost don't feel like I ever really left...
I was concerned that the familiarity would make the experience far more mundane, but it hasn't. I may have taken fewer pictures upon arrival but I think all-in-all, round two has actually made me appreciate the experience more. Its given me a comparison for the feelings I remember so fondly from last season...the anticipation, the excitement...the terror.
I feel like it was just yesterday that I hung my Big Red up in the hallway in front of the Galley and felt so lost and so intimidated.This time around I didn't really have time to sort out what I felt, if I felt anything at all, because I was too busy catching up with familiar strangers and pointing others in the right direction. But, regardless of wether or not the feeling is excitement or anticipation or nerves or whatever else might be there, I definitely feel something. Thankfully, however nostalgia is NOT one of them. I catch myself thinking about last season now and then, and its hard not to when you're surrounded, completely, by remnants of the year before, but the memory of what has already come to pass actually puts into perspective how "big" the big picture really is. No matter what we do with our time here, that time will eventually end and with you or without you this program will go on...
It also confirms what my father has always said, "You can go back to the place, but not the time". It also adds truth to my mother's old addage about the friends who come and go...some are meant to be in your life forever and some are only meant to come into your life for a short time, affect you in their own way, and leave.
I look forward to what this season will bring :)
Stats for the day...
Temperature: -18°C/ 0°F
Windchill: -29°C/-20°F
Visibility (miles): 3/16 in snow and blowing snow
Wind (knots): E-SE 20-35 gusting to 45
Sunrise: 10:53am
Sunset: 3:01pm
Current Population: 248
Estimated Population Tomorrow by Dinner Time (if this plane lands): 363
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