29 July 2008 Cemetery Walks

Journal

What a day!! We listened all night to the winds roar by and Hut #268 quivered. Cold temperatures and snowflakes made it easy to decide to stay in the lab today. We all quietly worried about the Driftwood Feature, will part of it be washed out to sea?

Snowflakes Streaking Across the Tundra — Snowflakes in July!!

I spent the day, working with PolarTREC, testing out the Powerpoint uploading procedure, and drafting the presentation for next week. The process of creating a presentation is both daunting and exhilarating. Similar to a written piece, one must follow a process. Brainstorm, draft, revise, revise, draft, revise, revise, conference, … I had a completed outline and then tossed half of it. The writer at work.

Today’s journal answers the question about what happens after the human remains are excavated, examined, catalogued, and recorded. The New Cemetery is the final resting place for the remains.

The Wooden Crosses Mark the Entrance to the New Cemetery — These wooden crosses mark the final resting place of people. The standard granite markers would just shift, lean, fall and break. Wood is a little easier to maintain.

The New Cemetery is well back from the coast and is out on the edge of town and the tundra, near some satellite dishes, and away from houses. A wonderful spot to rest.

The Satellite Dish Convention was in town these last few years, notice how well they all listen to the signals, always looking at the transmitter.

Similar problems are still making the burial process difficult up here. First the ground is frozen if you go 1.5m (5’) down. Second, the ground freezes from the top down soon, like next month. Third, remember how everything has to be pilings? Or stilts? Can’t do that with graves or cemetery markers, so everything moves and shifts around, ending up slightly tilted. Yet, at the same time, there is a sense of calm and beauty as you look across the cemetery towards the tundra which seems to go on forever and ever.