Polar Date: July 13, 2008
Sunday morning – a day off! I awoke to blazing sunshine, which was a welcome change from the heavily overcast and rainy weather we had been having for the past week or so. When I looked at my watch, I saw it was 11:00 a.m. I had slept for 12 hours! It felt good to be so well rested and it was a fitting way to start the day, almost halfway through the day. I decided to mimic my Sundays at home with the exception of not being able to attend Mass or spend the day with my family.
A normal Sunday at home in Michigan involves going out to Church, then breakfast, then reading the paper for a few hours, taking my dog Pi for a walk, sometimes going to the park or going canoeing, cooking a nice dinner then doing a little bit of computer work.
Miniature dachshunds are the same as standard size dachshunds, they're just smaller. You can see that Pi is very long with very short legs and a soulful expression - all characteristics of dachshunds in general. Mini dachshunds have to be under 11 pounds at one year old. Pi is almost full grown and weighs a little over 7.5 pounds, so he's a mini-mini.
This Sunday at Toolik consisted of breakfast, reading the paper, going for a walk, doing a lot of computer work in the Lab and having a nice dinner, then reading for a few hours. It was restful, but certainly very different, not only from my normal Michigan Sunday, but from the other 6 days of the week.
The major difference I noticed was when I took a stroll around the camp – the camp was pretty much deserted. I began searching to see if I could find some more Homo sapiens. At first, I thought people might be playing games instead of working, but as you can see, that wasn’t the case.
The fooseball table is located in a small tent toward the back of the lab area near the lake.
Ping pong paddles awaiting players and a tournament. No sign of either at this point.
This may or may not be a horseshoe pit. It looks like one, but there isn't another one. It would be strange to play horseshoes with only one stake, but maybe this is really a unique sport at Toolik Lake - the one stake horseshoe game. There were no horseshoes around either...
Then I thought there might be someone on the lake.
Sunday, July 13. No one is around the far end of Toolik Lake.
Maybe someone on the boardwalks, walking.
The lake looks so inviting sparkling in the sunshine, yet there doesn't seem to be anyone taking advantage of the calm reflective waters by sampling or just enjoying a quiet paddle.
Certainly there would be people going to the dining hall for lunch.
In contrast to most days, lunchtime arrives and only a single person heads to the dining hall.
My quest was unsuccessful. I would have to wait until Monday when everyone was back at work to see what he or she did on his or her day off.
Signing off from Toolik Lake, and remember, *"There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew”. ~Marshall McLuhan, 1964
*