Goodbye Goose

Well, today was supposed to be my leaving day but the weather has socked us in! LAST day at Goose Lake for 2005. It's pretty hard to believe how quickly this whole field season has gone!

The first snowflake quietly hit the ground about three weeks ago and it's been cold ever since. I was working out in the Trench south of camp when it started snowing for the first time since I had been back. It was a strange feeling, seeing the snow come back after experiencing the back end of winter through the melt and summer. The first quiet snow (as I call it) is always the first snow of the year for me. I always remember sitting in elementary school, watching the snow fall silently and wishing to god that the bell would ring so I could get outside and play in it! It was almost the same feeling of awe being out in the trench that day, watching the snow coming down. So, I took a few minutes and snuck around the back side of the trench to hide from the noise of camp and silently watched my quiet snow.


In a way, I'll miss Goose Lake for its simple life and extreme, stark beauty. A place where your life's extent, for the most part, becomes the area of a couple hundred meters squared and the only faces you see often are your own and the 29 others who live in your square area. It's always a challenge to remain connected to reality and the other hundred million squared meters of the rest of the earth. So often the days here blend together and it's difficult to remember from one day to the next what occurred and on what specific day. At the same time, it's a simple life with no cooking, no grocery shopping, no housecleaning, no commuting to work, no noise of the city, no cell phones and no money, keys or cars. Never have to worry about spare change for parking up here! So, as always, I take the advantages of this life to heart and try to learn from the challenges faced while in the insulated world of camp.


Here is my list of top 10 fun things learned while at Goose Lake:
1. Watch the steps to the patco toilet, they are slippery
2. Being constantly dirty/dusty/greasy and/or smelling like food is constant. Get used to it!
3. If you think it's cold in your cabin, don't worry it's colder outside!
4. If you want to leave, you probably won't due to weather. If you don't want to leave, they send you out early!
5. Grizzly bears are very quiet on their feet
6. Drillers like pink pants and chocolate bars or cookies
7. Humor is your number one sanity saver
8. Always remember its okay to be/act/look like a girl, no matter where you are
9. Be patient because you'll need it when you get stuck on the toilet during a generator shutdown or half way through your shower when the propane runs out
10. Always smell the milk first before pouring