Son of Polestock

The midwinter dinner wasn't quite what I expected. Far from the upbeat, celebratory reprise of our Sunset dinner I was expecting, it was a subdued, quiet affair. Conversation was strained, and immediately following dessert, the whole galley cleared out and everyone went to bed. For the first time since arriving on station, I actually felt a bit lonely.

That said, I guess I should have expected it - the real party wasn't until Saturday.

Our resident bands have been working overtime since Polestock, preparing for the midwinter concert, affectionately christened Son of Polestock. Their repertoires had all grown impressively, and we were set for 7-8 solid hours of live music.

Everyone else on station was getting into the spirit of it, from the graphic design guys making fliers and advertising posters, to the crowd that set up a production line in the arts & crafts room to manufacture souvenir t-shirts.




The concert itself, though not quite up to the standard of the original Polestock, made for a fun evening. A crowd gathered, drank, danced, and for a couple of hours, forgot their problems. As with the dinner, it was more subdued than last time, but everyone enjoyed themselves, and our by now fairly tense winter crew was finally able to unwind a bit.

As for the bands, they were outstanding, and the production of the entire concert was well beyond anything I'd have thought possible here at the end of the earth.