December 10, 2010 – Good thing I wore my lucky underwear

It was another calm day in our area of the Antarctic Peninsula. The sky was blue, the sun was shining.

A difficult day for lab work.

From my bedroom window this morning, I could see from the glassy water that there was little wind.

A perfect day for boating.

Joe, Katie, and the Penguinos were all out on zodiac ops. I was the only member of the Joettes who had not yet been on a zodiac. Both of my opportunities had been lost due to foul weather conditions which were now perfect once my turn had passed.

The weather was taunting me.

I was not entirely pleased, but as I awoke from that night’s slumber I remembered that I was wearing my lucky underwear. I thought to myself, “c’mon lucky underwear, gimme somethin’ good.

The day began like any other. Missed breakfast, ate lunch, anesthetized some krill in alka seltzer. Gotta get those G values. The aquarium room doors were wide open. The sun shined in, tantalizingly. It called to me. I made a break for it. I journeyed to the 02 deck where I planted myself in full sun, soaking up the vitamin D and ultraviolet radiation. Just then, a humpback whale broke the surface a hundred or so feet off the port side. Watching him bubble feeding and flashing his tail at me, slowly make his way away for almost 20 minutes, I knew it was none other than the power of the lucky underwear.

The day continued as usual. Hot chocolate, more krill in alka seltzer. Katie returned from the zodiac trip with Joe with tales of krill, penguins, whales, and ice shaped like a shoe. I wished I had been there. I walked back to the lab, feeling dejected and ready to measure more krill when suddenly, THE POWER OF THE LUCKY UNDERWEAR! Mike rounded a corner, saw me, asked if I wanted to go on a short zodiac ride to pick up the Penguinos from their study site. Huzzah! I jumped on it. Quickly, I ran back to my room to grab something warm to put on.

I forgot my hat, but I had remembered my neck warmer. I put it over my ears. “Good enough,” I thought. I was good to go.

Ethan’s back, Mike, and the Penguinos, Steve and Melissa.

It was awesome. I’m still looking forward to going on a multiple hour zodiac trip but nonetheless, this first trip was da bomb.

Because I saw penguins.

Some chinstraps chillin’ out.

- Melissa