Tuesday 4 May 2004
Sundown
The sun has just set for the last time until August marking the beginning of 105 days of darkness and the start of the real winter at Halley. It might sound strange but it happened quickly enough to catch me by surprise. Only a week ago we still had quite a few hours of daylight now suddenly no more Sun. It was pretty cloudly during the last week but when the sun did poke through the clouds I found myself trying to savour the moment, knowing it wouldn't be around for long. Of course it was impossible to really appreciate it - I expect it will mean a lot more to us all when it creeps above the horizon for the first time after mid-winter.
I think this period of darkness is the time that most people back home find the hardest to understand. It certainly provoked a lot of raised eyebrows when I mentioned it to people before I left. I think people must imagine us locked up in a little hut, battered by the cold wind and going mad through boredom. Imagine instead a cosy house in the country with all your mates, away from the hustle and bustle of city life but with everything you need within reach.
The convenience of life here does mean that you have more time than you would at home, but there's no shortage of things to do to fill it. I've found myself being more creative than I've ever been - sketching and painting, making a picture frame, working on fancy dress costumes, it's been great.
Even though it's dark the outside world still has a lot to offer. We'll get great skies throughout the winter as the sun almost rises and we've had some staggering clear night skies with the Milky Way stretching from horizon to horizon. The buildings all get covered in crystals of ice and even the bad weather has something to offer - when we get a storm the whole building shakes and you can barely see a few metres in front of you.
Posted by simon at 1:26 PM