So.......
Rob and Kelsey called from Barrow saying the grid frame arrived in Barrow. They picked it up at the Barrow airport and took it over to the smaller terminal that does the village flights. They said they'd be on the last flight of the day and that they should arrive at 4:15 with the grid frame. Jeremy, Jenny, and I went out to the field. They finished up end-of-season measurements while I pieced together more matted trail (without hitting the trigger while holding the screw today) and I collected mosses and lichens. It was soooooooooo cold today! Our hands and feet went numb because of the wind.
This is the latest and greatest in Tundra Fashion! To think that less than a week ago we were concerned about mosquitoes!
When we got back to the lab we noticed more people had arrived from Barrow. Once Rob and Kelsey got here, we became ten. It's a good thing that between the seven new people there were 4 frozen pizzas, so that was supper. DiGorno never tasted so good.
You might be wondering what we do for fun because we have no television or cable and we only have six VHS movies including Top Gun and Space Cowboys. Well, we surf the web and chat with friends on Facebook...the best way of communicating with anyone in Barrow or in the Lower 48 because with very limited bandwidth we cannot use Skype. We watch movies, especially since Terry, a teacher at the school has loaned us a few. We also do science experiments like trying to grow potatoes in the window...turns out they just mold. We do arts and crafts. This week we had Sergio bring down some glue and we made a pistachio bowl out of pistachio shells. We jump out at each other and shout "Bear Attack!"
Then there is the most popular evening pastime: The Clicking Contest. We have spring-loaded hand-held counting clickers to count plants. It keeps track of the number of plants and leaves in a plot. However, we hold a thumb-clicking contest each night to see who can get the most clicks in a minute. We do this with each hand. Originally, it was going to be "right versus left hand;" however, since I'm left-handed and generally faster with my left hand, we changed it to "dominate versus non-dominate" hand...Dom v. Non-Dom. Tonight, Rob swept the Dom round with 316 clicks. I'm holding the Non-Dom title with 257. Entertainment in Atqasuk...cheap and fun. Oh, and about the NIMS grid?
Um, it didn't come. It's still in Barrow so the wait continues...