so here i sit, in a hotel suite in denver, at the start of the long dark.

the “long dark,” by the by, sounds far more melodramatic than i take it to be, but i like how it denotes much of my upcoming year in antarctica, and i say it with a smile.

so here i sit, one day into the adventure, feeling a bit anti-climactic.

these last few weeks have been non-stop, a whirlwind process of many things. duluth and i finally came to terms with each other and i found a home there. i learned to appreciate the community of good folk that we developed on that lake. i (finally) quit the job that so many of my friends and family had listened to me struggle with for months. i managed to cram in visits and catch-ups and last minute drinks with so many people that i care for, yet missed many more. i played some frisbee, laughed awhile, learned something about love, something new about family, nearly got arrested at a ten year reunion, labored over farm chores, sold my car, found a last port of call at a hobo party, and began to understand the slow time of two weeks in southern minnesota.

i walked with my dad down a driveway he hasn’t walked down since last october.

there have been many good moments.

and then there were good byes. far too many, but all with a knowing of visits again soon. they are not easy, but they are part of the trade for the seasonal and wandering life.

so, a whirlwind of activity. then on to denver and the community of folk i’ve come to know and enjoy in the antarctic world.

except it turns out that i’m in a class in another part of town, by my lonesome, without time or transportation to see the offices and the folk i know.

seeing them, it seems, may not happen for a few more days or another week.

this has revealed another expectation - one of those hidden that crop up when we least expect them as we have developed them without awareness. a revealed expectation of the continuation of pace and experience of the last several weeks. a want for no downtime, just more uptime, more of the new rush of adventure and the familiar.

this time, then, wiling hours away on airplanes, classes, and in a denver hotel suite - it’s a touch anti-climactic. maybe, however, it’s just the recovery time needed. perspective before the storm, so to speak. if, by storms, one can mean the best of many things.