Our house is very, very, very, fine house…
Such a cozy room, the windows are illuminated By the evening sunshine through them,,,
Our house is a very, very, very fine house...
Gracias, Crosby, Steals and Nash
I am staying at the NARL, Navy Arctic Research Laboratory Hotel. I know you hear hotel and think plush, flat screen TV, swimming pools, your own bathroom and nice fluffy towels. It is a good thing I knew better before I got here, because I would’ve been very disappointed.
I, we live in a "work camp”. My room is great. I am very pleased with it and it even has enough space to share with my reporter friend Kim. I have enough space for everything. Plus the thing about my/ our room is that you only go there to change clothes or to sleep. We are always on the go. There are about 20 of us in this unit and a few other units and houses on the property. Girls have a bathroom with showers and guys have their own. I heard that the guys bathroom is A LOT bigger than ours!
We have a communal laundry room and I did laundry today. I was in a hurry to get to the lab on time and just threw my clothes and sheets on the bed. Tonight when I finally went back to my room, my bed was neatly made. MOM! Are you in Alaska? Wow, they make our beds here at the NARL. I am staying!
My humble Abode
We always meet in our lab. We do work in here. I write my journals and plan webinars in the lab. Dr. Oberbauer is writing grant proposals, Paulo is tinkering with instruments and data, and Jose is loading data, reading, checking email and will be helping me with the Ask the Team questions. We also have school in the lab. I have empathy for my students who don’t "get” some things. I understand a lot of the science behind the experimentation, but quite honestly – I humbly tell you – some of it I just "don’t get.” Paulo and Steve are great teachers and they say to just keep listening and once I start collecting data things will start to make more sense.
****Secret**** so my students know I am human. Once during class, Paulo said – "hey pay attention.”
Do you want to know what I was thinking??? hmmm I don’t understand GPP’s NEEP or was that NPEE, reflectivity or nanometers with parts per million combined or did he even say that, should I take notes?… hmmm I need a new notebook – I wonder if I can find a water proof one or a blue one would be nice…
But, note to my students don’t get any wise ideas, YOU MUST PAY FULL ATTENTION TO ME WHEN I TEACH!
Paulo is teaching us about the spectroradiometer that we will be using in the field. Photo taken by Sandee Apang
The coldest and coolest part of "My Space” is the tundra. Most days we hit the boardwalks. We walk about a mile out to our site. I have been learning **so much out there too, some about our project, some about other projects, some about the plots, some about plants and animals and a lot about staying warm. When I walk the mile with backpack in tote I get **really warm, then when we stand still to learn or work, I get cold very quickly!
We are instructed to bring lots of extra clothes in our pack, because you never how dramatically things will change in the tundra. You know the Girl Scout motto " Always Be Prepared”.
This is path I walk every day and every day it changes - the tundra is always changing
Bird of the Day
We see lots of snowy owls on the site - they love to eat Lemmings - Lemming Pie anyone?
The Snowy Owl is so beautiful and super sized! They eat Lemmings, poor little Lemmings. There are owl pellets everywhere, which is owl regurgitation. I have been collecting them for my students. We will dissect them to look for little Lemming traces – again poor little Lemmings. Kim wrote a funny blog about "owl puke” tonight. Check it out at www.palmbeachpost.com from Palm Trees to Polar Bears.
Enjoy your space; I am enjoying mine on the Top of the World.