THE ZEN OF PENGUINS
"It's a beautiful place to wake up, Antarctica." Rhian Salmon
(photos by Rhian, except for beverages)
Rhian Salmon is blogging the poetry & tedium of a year stationed with the British Antarctic Survey on the Brunt Ice Shelf (on her brother's blog at Felix Salmon). Living at the end of the world with 17 humans & thousands of penguins, Rhian's a funny & thoughtful writer, & posts some majestic photos. Some common threads:
Sept. 22 - "We're running out of tea bags. This is serious. We have got through over 13,000 tea bags & about 2 tins of instant coffee. If anything is going to turn us into crisis mode, this is it."
Sept 7 - Dresses as Tank Girl for Antarctic bacchanal
August 31- "Breakfast, cup of tea, melt-tank a bit of a slog & off to work." [Ed. note: have no idea what she's talking about]
Aug 24: The Zen of penguins: "They don't strike me as being particularly intelligent – but they don't seem unhappy, either."
August 12 - Aurora: "Gentle green swirls in the sky, clear starry night, low-level mist, the Milky Way..."
August 7 - Stars: "So many stars you have no idea, I am clapping with joy. There's big smiley Scorpio & the bright lights of the Southern Cross. The Milky Way streaking like a great smoky line across the sky, even the magellanic clouds."
July 6 - Stares at sky. Has mug of vile-sounding malted beverage called Horlicks.
June 8 - "Get up, chat over a cup of tea, peg out, tog up & go out." [Ed note: What is she talking about?]
May 10 - "Blowing an absolute hoolie outside." ??????
May 4 - "Come inside for cup of tea & see that my sprouted mung beans have gone nuts."
April 19 - "Aurora smoking its way across the sky, green above, wisping eastwards, curling at its edge to meet the Milky Way. So many thousands of stars, they look like a bright white cloud in the sky. We're on the edge of this disc of stars. Two more puffs of clouds, Magellanic Clouds, two more galaxies. So clear, so unbelievable. Immense."
April 11 - "Drank a lot of tea, talked a lot of shit, saw a lot of orange."
March 14 - Drunken orgy & Antarctic porn photos. ADULT CONTENT.
Feb 27 - Photoblog. Gets pissed in snow
Feb 25 - Teabags & rusks. [Ed note: Brits love this sort of thing]
Feb 3 - "The scenery is huge & vast & dismissive. I am here, in the middle of nowhere, far, far, far away from the politics of the world."
Jan 17 - Cuts her bum.
Jan 8 - "O! the wildlife. I saw whales swimming under us, and seals: leopards and weddels, a pup sliding right close, snapping at the lines. Emperor penguins, the occasional adelie, so sweet, so comical. Wilson's storm petrels, & the ever beautiful snow petrels."
UPDATE: Rhian is THRILLED to learn that as a result of my post, she's now a cult figure. Please send Rhian a care package (with lots of tea) at Rhian Salmon, Halley, Antarctica c/o British Antarctic Survey, Falkland Islands [NOTE: We are willing to overlook the fact that Rhian's brother Felix is a Kerry supporter. IT'S NOT HER FAULT.]
"It's a beautiful place to wake up, Antarctica." Rhian Salmon
(photos by Rhian, except for beverages)
Rhian Salmon is blogging the poetry & tedium of a year stationed with the British Antarctic Survey on the Brunt Ice Shelf (on her brother's blog at Felix Salmon). Living at the end of the world with 17 humans & thousands of penguins, Rhian's a funny & thoughtful writer, & posts some majestic photos. Some common threads:
Sept. 22 - "We're running out of tea bags. This is serious. We have got through over 13,000 tea bags & about 2 tins of instant coffee. If anything is going to turn us into crisis mode, this is it."Sept 7 - Dresses as Tank Girl for Antarctic bacchanal
August 31- "Breakfast, cup of tea, melt-tank a bit of a slog & off to work." [Ed. note: have no idea what she's talking about]
Aug 24: The Zen of penguins: "They don't strike me as being particularly intelligent – but they don't seem unhappy, either."
August 12 - Aurora: "Gentle green swirls in the sky, clear starry night, low-level mist, the Milky Way..."
August 7 - Stars: "So many stars you have no idea, I am clapping with joy. There's big smiley Scorpio & the bright lights of the Southern Cross. The Milky Way streaking like a great smoky line across the sky, even the magellanic clouds."
July 6 - Stares at sky. Has mug of vile-sounding malted beverage called Horlicks.June 8 - "Get up, chat over a cup of tea, peg out, tog up & go out." [Ed note: What is she talking about?]
May 10 - "Blowing an absolute hoolie outside." ??????
May 4 - "Come inside for cup of tea & see that my sprouted mung beans have gone nuts."
April 19 - "Aurora smoking its way across the sky, green above, wisping eastwards, curling at its edge to meet the Milky Way. So many thousands of stars, they look like a bright white cloud in the sky. We're on the edge of this disc of stars. Two more puffs of clouds, Magellanic Clouds, two more galaxies. So clear, so unbelievable. Immense."April 11 - "Drank a lot of tea, talked a lot of shit, saw a lot of orange."
March 14 - Drunken orgy & Antarctic porn photos. ADULT CONTENT.Feb 27 - Photoblog. Gets pissed in snow
Feb 25 - Teabags & rusks. [Ed note: Brits love this sort of thing]
Feb 3 - "The scenery is huge & vast & dismissive. I am here, in the middle of nowhere, far, far, far away from the politics of the world."
Jan 17 - Cuts her bum.
Jan 8 - "O! the wildlife. I saw whales swimming under us, and seals: leopards and weddels, a pup sliding right close, snapping at the lines. Emperor penguins, the occasional adelie, so sweet, so comical. Wilson's storm petrels, & the ever beautiful snow petrels."
UPDATE: Rhian is THRILLED to learn that as a result of my post, she's now a cult figure. Please send Rhian a care package (with lots of tea) at Rhian Salmon, Halley, Antarctica c/o British Antarctic Survey, Falkland Islands [NOTE: We are willing to overlook the fact that Rhian's brother Felix is a Kerry supporter. IT'S NOT HER FAULT.]
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