The construction crew and new camp staff arrived on station almost two weeks ago, and we've been in a relentless push to make the most of the summer season. The freshie shack is once again replete with fruits and vegetables, and we've been eating delicious fresh greens and fruit salads: food now prepared by a full-time chef. But in the day before the freshie shack was repopulated, I took a quick photo of the state of this storeroom--nearly bare, save for nuts, butter and yoghurt. Off-camera, a quarter of a purple cabbage, our last fresh vegetable, resided in the fridge.
Several big cargo palettes were forked from the LC-130 plane by front end loaders, and deposited on the shop floor. With Yuki, Jason and Guy, I got to work stripping off the netting and sorting out the cargo. Spare parts for the mechanics' use, a big liquid nitrogen dewar, boxes and boxes of science gear, and, the unmistakale tan fuzz just visible through a gap in a crate, a case of delicate kiwis. Without a hesitation or thought, I reached through the gap, extracted a kiwi, and ate it in an instant, fuzzy skin and all. Then, through the same gap, a second kiwi. Sweet and tart, with tiny crunching seeds. From a different crate, Jason emerged with a brilliant orange. He lifted it to face level, the object of four dopey grins. A joyous, instinctive response, shared across species and millennia--the discovery of a treasured food source.
