Half Way Done!
Monday, 26 July 2004Well, the snow is almost completely gone; the ice in the bay has moved out. The remnants are seen as icebergs floating past the Thule docks. Some are small as cars, others are as large as a mansion. The blue water, cold as it may be, calmly reflects the sky and clouds above. Although not much has happened in the realm of excitement in the past week or so, seeing the true beauty of this land leaves me awe-struck. Just check out the flowers alone; how these things survive up here is beyond me. There's a whole world of wildlife, too, from geese and seagulls, to the small annoyances called mosquitoes. Many hikes through the local lands have shown these wonders to me, and I get excited every weekend knowing I'll probably see something new. Soon, we'll be able to make it down the "Green Valley", where the mighty muskox live!
Aside from the local terrain, other exciting events have taken place in the past couple months. One most notably, the Queen of Denmark arrived, with her husband, the Prince Consort, and her son the Crown Prince and his new wife from Tasmania. The week before their arrival, the Public Affairs officer and the Chief asked me if I'd be interested in being the Official Photographer... you can guess the response! Get a chance to play with a $4000 camera AND be able to get up close with royalty? Heck Ya! The day of the event, the Denmark press arrived early to get in place, followed by the cordon guard comprised of the military folks on base, then the local crowds (a mix of Danes, Americans, Canadians and Inuits). The Queen's plane soon came into view, and the crowd started getting excited. I didn't know it at the time, but as I moved forward to get into position near where the plane would be landing, I looked back and saw that none of the other journalists were coming up, too. I figured they just had really nice cameras that could zoom in to get the great shots, but I later learned that they were not allowed out of the hanger. Only I had permission! Wow! Anyhow, the plane pulled up and the stairs came down. The red carpet was literally rolled out and the cordon guard marched up to the plane. The first person to come off the plane was a woman, but she didn't look royal. She seemed too down to earth and dress relaxedly for that. But sure enough, this was the Queen. The base commander and the Danish commander were standing by to welcome her and her husband. As I was shooting away, they started down the carpet to where the others from the reception line waited, and I ran with them to keep getting shots in. As I entered into the crowd of photographers, I realized I'd also entered the realm of elbows and swift knees, and a wave of action way too fast for my still-life standards. Before I knew it, I was pushed out of the way and decided just to go back to the van where they would be departing from the hanger to get in some last shots. Again, none of the photographers followed, for the same reason. Only the Air Force photographer could be in that area. :-)
Two other events took place that evening where we had exclusive rights to photos. A meet-and-greet at the local community center with the entire royal family, and a BBQ in the pavilion in their honor. Needless to say, it was a long evening that didn't end until well after midnight. And it was a work night, too! One of my friends here was also honored with being the Official Cook of the BBQ event. He was in his glorious state as he showed the Queen which items were on the menu and is even having a bottle of his BBQ sauce sent to Denmark to get the official Danish seal! Cool, huh? Oh, and I spoke with the Prince Consort (they don't call the Queen's husband "King" because King is more powerful than Queen - in case you were wondering), and meeting him, he said, "Oh! You are not Danish!". I said, "No your highness." (We had to address the Queen as "your majesty" and the rest of the royal family as "your highness".) He said, "Oh, that's too bad." I started to reply but he said, jokingly, a second later, "... for you!"Eh, who said there's no humor in royalty - even coming from a Prince Consort who's actually from France.
Something else of excitement happened last week. I received an email from the Air Force News Agency telling me one of my pictures from the Arctic Expedition was published in a dog sledding magazine called Mushing Mag! They wrote to ask my address so they could send me a copy of the magazine.
Well, the sun is still out 24-hours, but you can tell it won't last long. So we're gonna make the best of what's left. Even though it's been a cool summer (average temps in the 40s), there's still things-a-happening. In mid-August, the base will host a Polar Bear swim. The first night festival shouldn't be too far along after that, and that means that Storm Season is also just around the corner. I'm not looking forward to getting back into the parka and heavy clothes.My first real break comes up in October, and I'm planning a west coast trip for a couple weeks. By the time I get back, I'll only have 3 more months before moving on to Iceland. I just talked to the folks out there today, and there are 2 people I knew from prior bases that'll be out there, at least for the beginning of my year there. Should be fun! Seems like it'll be expensive to have the Jeep out there, but I'm sure it'll be well worth any extras paid to be able to see the countryside near and far.
I think that's about it for this novel edition. 6 months has gone quick, and I'm sure the next 6 will be passing just as fast. So, please keep in touch and let me know what's new out there in the real world. You're my LINK!! :-)
Hope this finds you well... take care and write soon...
Dan