Nov 17, 2008

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK– In New York City, fall is just beginning its descent into winter. Last night we sank below 40 degrees for the first time and back in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, it’s beginning to snow. Each time I clutch my scarf a little tighter to protect me from the wind, I try to tell myself to toughen up. I think, “This time next week, you’ll be in Antarctica, sleeping in a snow cave. This time next month you’ll be at AGAP South, where it’s 40 degrees below zero on the most pleasant day.”

A cloud hovering over Lower Manhattan.

While on the subway, I try to imagine a temperature 80 degrees different from today’s and picture myself doing undergraduate fieldwork under the unrelenting sun and heat of a Utah summer. The train stops suddenly and brings me back to NYC… “There are more people in this subway car than there will be at AGAP South.” I look around, noting the diversity: colors, expressions, ages and occupations. It seems the same reason I love living in NY is the same reason I love leaving it. The variety. You can’t beat a career that takes you from “The Top of the Rock” in midtown Manhattan to the bottom of the world.

A Cloud hovering over Beaufort Island.

I’ll arrive on the Ice Monday, November 24… See you there!