Things I miss

Life is actually pretty comfortable in the South Pole Station - good food, decent wine, and friendly conversation are easy to come by. Comfortable as it is, there are some things I still find myself craving. Good olive oil, hot baths, the sound of the Green Line train going by my apartment in the night. I really miss my cats, more than just about anything else from my ordinary life. They're staying with my parents and having a fine time watching squirrels out the windows, but I hope they don't forget me too much while I'm gone.

Another thing I really miss is my pottery classes. Since last spring, I've been taking wheel throwing classes at Terra Incognito Studio in Oak Park. It's a great place to spend time on weekends and evenings, socializing and working on pottery projects. I'm finding that there's a huge hole in my day to day life without that, and I will be itching to get my hands back into the clay when I get back in February.

When I was packing to come down here, one of the few personal items I brought with me was a coffee cup made by my pottery teacher Conner McKissack. There is something really comforting about a handmade object of any kind in this place. I also figured he'd get a kick out of knowing one of his cups made it all the way to the bottom of the earth. This fall our class was quite intrigued by my upcoming trip, and they even made me pull out my laptop in the studio to give a slideshow from last time I was down here. So, for Conner and the rest of the Terra Incognito crowd, I photographed the coffee mug in a place of honor - on top of the marker for the Geographic South Pole. Cheers to everyone back in the studio!