gathers no moss: late start to winter

I am currently at home, sitting on the couch next to my propane heater. I go through a BBQ-sized tank of propane about every four days trying to stay warm. It's like sitting by a campfire. The heat sears one side of my body while the other side is frozen. Occasionally I rotate.

It's been very slow in Methven until the most recent winter storm hit, which is currently still slamming the island. It was the warmest autumn here in many years, so the ski areas couldn't operate and people were dejected and unemployed. After I came back from my tour around the south island, I was expecting to have something to do. But not much happened. I finally complained to my boss that I came all the way over here from the northern hemisphere and I was getting restless. So he found me some jobs.

At first I helped out in the ski rental shop. I'd never done that before and they gave me a 10-minute course on how to adjust ski bindings before about 200 people showed up at once. I think I got most of their bindings set correctly. I didn't hear of any broken legs.

My next job was to dress up as the ski area mascot for a marketing campaign. I rolled my eyes when I heard this, but I had to take the job since I was complaining about no work. So I got into an enormous green parrot outfit and went to a festival celebrating the upcoming World Cup. My job was to get as close to the camera as possible and draw attention to myself. It was hot and sweaty inside the parrot suit, and I couldn't see very well through the mesh screen in the parrot's mouth. I succeeded in getting fairly close to the camera without stomping on any children. I waved my arms and jumped around behind the newscaster while he read the weather.

Later, a TV producer complimented me on my outfit. She was very pretty and blonde, so I started chatting with her through the parrot head. I completely forgot that I was in a parrot suit while I was trying to be handsome and charming. After about a minute of this, she suddenly had something else important to do. I was briefly crestfallen until I realized the ridiculousness of the situation.

In the last few days, a massive storm has engulfed the islands, causing tornadoes up on the north island and snow down south. Finally I was able to go work up on the hill. The winds have howled so strongly that the roof moans on the sturdy three-story base lodge, and the floors vibrate even in the center of the building. We go out in our machines to try to keep the trails passable. In the snow-filled gale you can't see anything except white, and often have to stop completely to wait for the next lull in the wind. Then you can creep forward while staring at the faint outline of the edge of the abyss through the whirling snow. Then you have to stop again when the gale comes back and hurls chunks of ice and rocks at the side of the shaking machine. The rocks come from distant pinnacles half a mile away. They are carried through the air along with roof panels, hoses, pads, signs, and whatever else gets torn away. The mountain has been closed for three days in a row due to wind, and it's not letting up any time soon. Luckily the snow groomers are somewhat vital to the operation even when the mountain isn't operating.

When I'm not working, I've been entertaining myself ont the homemade climbing wall at the company warehouse. I've never done it before but it's a fun challenge and hopefully will build my core strength a little. I'm a complete novice and can hardly tie a knot that's not on a shoelace. There is a guy there who is very experienced, and is sort of the instructor. He halfheartedly tries to conceal his disgust at my complete ineptitude. It's OK though, I'm not out to prove anything to anyone.

Scorpio from the observatory at Mt John near Lake Tekapo. I went on a nighttime stargazing tour there and there were astronomers and astrophotographers there to guide us. A photographer put my camera on his equatorial mount, the kind that slowly turns with the earth so that the stars remain in focus. This was taken on my camera, 5 minute exposure, ISO 800, aperture all the way open. The red star above and left of center is Antares.