![Big House in Ice Fog](/files/members/craig-beals/images/big-house-backlit-fog.jpg "The Big House is the defining structure of Summit Camp and houses the kitchen, dining room, office and bathroom. The building is raised up on stilts so as the snow pack gets taller the crew can "lift" it up to higher ground.")
The Big House is the defining structure of Summit Camp and houses the kitchen, dining room, office and bathroom. The building is raised up on stilts so as the snow pack gets taller the crew can "lift" it up to higher ground.
June 18, 2008 – Meet Big House
The Big House gets its name from its relative size compared to the other structures of Summit Camp. It is the hub of the hive, the nerve center, the coffee shop, the dining room, the washroom, the kitchen, the hangout, and refuge from the cold. Without the Big House, Summit camp would lose its identity. With its polar blue color, stilt legs, weather tower and satellite dome, it is the defining structure of camp.
The Big House is buzzing 24 hours a day. As I sit here at 10pm and write this there is a group at one table listening to music quietly playing on the stereo as they ponder the weather and plot tomorrow’s experiments. Three others are hunkered over laptops checking to see if loved ones have sent them an email from home. One intently reads a book, he is a staple himself, I think he has read more books over the last two weeks than I have read in a lifetime. Soon, Tony will walk in with his clunking boots and scarf…if I wait long enough he is sure to show…he always does.
In a few hours, the Big House will be filled again with bundled up researchers and staff as they fill their bellies with cereal and bagels for breakfast. The staff will have their daily meeting and smells from the kitchen will quickly fill the galley as people briskly come and go. Come lunch time, things will be crazy again, but only for a short time. Soon after, all will rush back outside into the cold and quickly close doors behind them.
This place is the hub of the wheel. Summit wouldn’t be Summit if it weren’t for the Big House!
The dining room and kitchen in the Big House are the busiest places in camp.
Today’s soccer game was postponed due to blowing and drifting snow. Tomorrow, weather permitting, the game will go on!
Food Update:
Lunch: Veggie soup, Baked Potato Bar with the following toppings: chili, sour cream, bacon, salsa, broccoli, and several other things I can’t even remember.
Dinner: Lemony Thighs, Couscous, Lemon Miso Tofu, Caponata, Butter Sautéed Brussels Sprouts, and Salad.
Stay Warm!!