Midwinter

Midwinter is the biggest holiday of the season down here - a sort of Christmas-in-July, only in June, and largely without presents. It's a milestone marking the halfway point of the winter, as well as a two day weekend featuring a fancy dinner and more or less continuous parties.


We've reached the darkest point of our long night - at least, we would have, if the moon weren't blazing brightly overhead. We still won't see the first hints of sunlight for another couple of months, but after today it's officially on the rise.

The formal Midwinter Dinner, social highlight of the year, is tonight. The galley crew has been working overtime preparing a tremendous meal, while the rest of us are busily decorating for dinner or preparing the gym for tomorrow's concert (more on that later).


The atmosphere around station isn't quite as happy and relaxed as it was at Sunset, but that's to be expected - the excitement of simply being here has largely faded, and a good fraction of station has begun to go slightly toasty after 4 months of isolation.

This weekend will go a long way toward restoring the mental health of the community - once the festivities begin, everyone should unwind pretty quickly. I think we're in for a wonderful Midwinter's celebration.