Post the Christmasteenth (Part Too)

Hello again!

Yes, it's still 2012, and it's still Christmas on Jeff of the South.  So? I like living in the past!  At least I know what's going to happen next.  To a certain point.


(Before we press on, a quick note.  Those of you who are new to this series of anecdotal eructations (i.e. this blog) may not be aware, but if you want to see a larger, clearer version of each photo, simply click on the image in the blog.  It links to a bigger photo.)


Anyway when last we left Davis Station it was in the throes of a spectacular Christmas brunch.  I have no photos of the brunch being consumed.  Why?  Well, nom nom nom.  That's why.

Brunch was wrapped up at midday, and those of us in the kitchen (along with the kindly helpers) then set to furiously cleaning up and preparing in earnest for the major meal that evening.

I have no photos of that either, because... well when I said we were working furiously, I meant it.  Just not the time to pick up the camera.

However for the rest of the station population it was all about enjoying the day.  And the highlight of the day arrived at 2:30 in a red (naturally) Hagglunds.

Cue sound of excited kiddies.

Here he is arriving some more.

Traditional mode of transport.

As we know, Santa only comes once a year.  So when he does come it is a momentous occasion.

Sadly I could not be in attendance at any of the following festivities, what with my workload, but Field Training Officer Simon kindly took my camera for me and grabbed some photos.  Bummed I missed the big red guy, though.  This always seems to happen to me.

Upon Saint Nick's arrival the Station Leader, Bill, assembled the station population for a photograph.  And here that is:

Happy Davis children

The jolly old elf has had a frenetic day, zinging this way and that delivering joy, happiness and credit card bills all over the world.  Yet he still has time to display his  happy, devil-may-care attitude with a thumbs up to Simon.

High spirits

Pretty relaxed too.

Waiting for the orgy of gifts to begin

As the price for receiving their gift, each 'kiddie' must sit on Santa's lap for a photo.  Given the generous proportions of some of the 'children' though, I'm not certain who it was exactly that was paying the price.

But anyway, here are some photos of tolls being paid.

Firstly, here Superslushy Hannah excitedly receives her present.

Have I seen you somewhere before?

The Antarctic Division Director, Tony Fleming, is currently staying at Davis, and here he pays homage to The Man.

A very naughty boy

 But it seems that everyone loves Santa, to a greater or lesser extent.

Tom Mooney, local Dig-Little-Pits-In-The-Dirt-ologist is not backward in expressing his joy at coming face to face with an idol.

Expressive.

It forces Santa to show a bit of leg.  Not something he generally wants the little ones to see.

Mal, the station's doctor, loves Santa so much that he got down on one knee and proposed to him!

Marry me?

Of course Mrs Claus would take a very dim view of this, so Santa was forced to decline.


Some people, it seems, love Santa just a little bit too much and in expressing their extreme affection cross the line from love to molestation.

Here Danny cannot help himself, and feels the need to plank on Santa.

Plank you very much, Santa!

I'm not really sure what Richard was up to here, but I am certain it is in contravention of various codes of conduct.  Plus is possibly unhygienic.

Santa: not sure what to do with his hand.

And in the case of Mick, evidently undressing Santa in front of his adoring public seemed like an entirely appropriate thing to do.

Mick is, however, wrong.

Watch where that hand is going, matey!

But it's not all hard work and being interfered with for Santa.  No!  There are compensations for the work he does.  For example:

Mrs Claus would also (probably) take a dim view of this (definitely) so let's just keep this between us and Santa. (Absolutely!)



After all the presents have been distributed to the deserving girls and boys, Station Leader Bill directs everyone to gather around Father Claus for a group photo.

For the first time Santa displays trepidation, being in close proximity to such large numbers of adoring fans.  Who knows what might happen?

Trepidation

But it all turns out well in the end, and here is Santa with the station population.  Alas, again due to my work commitments I could not be in attendance for this photo.  A great shame, since it would have made a wonderful record of the day.

(And a big thank you to Cath King, Simon Cross and Gavin Heatherington-Tait for the use of their photographs above).


MEANWHILE, back in the kitchen...

Rocket is demonstrating his multitasking skills, whipping up a mouth-smacking, lip-watering pavlova role whilst simultaneously advising two elves (Adam and Mark) on the assembly of cheese platters.  Such talent!

Skillz

The mess also has been rearranged and prettified for the evening's extravagastronomanza.  The work of still more Christmas elves, one suspects.

Swish-ish

The flags at the back represent the nationalities of the make-up of Davis' population.  Mostly.  Some of them are just there to hide some unsightly shelving.


Eating hour approaches rapidly.  Here Hannah is zipping about, adding the finishing touches to Mount Salad.

Zippy

Two of the little elves, Phil and Timo (of-the-tongue), pause briefly to have their likenesses etched by my magic photomographic device before springing back into action.

He dresses well, but...

Another element of the evening takes shape - a seafood cascade upon glacier ice.  Not too many places offer such exotic displays, I'll warrant!

See?  Food!  (Gosh, I'm sorry for that one too).

The next few photos are of the finished display of the repast.  The final two photos are of the spit roasted lamb that formed the centrepiece of the cooked food.

I can only applaud the efforts of Rocket and Lesley in putting this together with what they had access to.  Bleedin' well done, guys.

And, the end result?  A room full of happy.

Happy

 Note that the blinds are down - this was done to create the illusion of it being evening.  It was evening, but the sun was streaming through the windows.  We have to invent our own night down here.

Now, there was to be a third post, featuring photos taken throughout the evening both during and after dinner.  Unfortunately I was convinced during dinner to have a glass of red wine, which my oh-so-helpful companions ensured was never entirely drained for the course of the evening.

The result, given my low tolerance for alcohol, were photographs of, let's say, poor technical quality.  To say the least.  My choices of subject matter weren't entirely wonderful either.

So, apologies.  There is no more of the day for you to see.  Which you may view as a blessing.  I certainly do.




EPILOGUE

All good stories have an epilogue.  This isn't a good story, but it has an epilogue anyway.

In all seriousness (yes, I can do that) the approach of Christmas was not filling me with my customary happiness.  I had never spent a Christmas away from my family before, and frankly was dreading the experience.  I had, in fact, decided to pretend Christmas was not happening, which was easy for the most part here at Davis.  We were not bombarded with Christmas music, and the decorations were extremely low-key.

However, when the day arrived, I felt actually quite miserable.  I spoke with some of my family members (spread out across different locations though they were), and was delighted to hear that they were all having a good time, but after ringing off my sadness was only intensified.  Christmas Day was proving to be very, very difficult, and it was a real effort to keep my demeanour jolly with my workmates.

During the morning, however, Station Leader Bill turned up in the kitchen with an armload of presents - for me - sent down by Alison and the kids in secret in Bill's care.  It was a wonderful thing to do, and immediately brightened my day.

I couldn't do anything about it at the time; it was far too busy in the kitchen to take time out to open them.  However, after Santa's visit I found myself with a few moments to spare before I had to return to work.

So, in my room, I opened them.

Firstly, here is the detritus from the unwrapping.  Why do I show you this?  It's just wrapping paper, right?  Well, it was the act of unwrapping gifts that were for me that provided the greatest happiness.  And while I didn't photograph myself unwrapping them, I could photograph the result.  And here it is.

And here are the gifts.

The sandwich toaster is from Xanthe, and Matt and James each gave me one of the clownfish toys and a Two Ronnies DVD.  (The remote-controlled helicopter was my Kris Kringle gift).

So, thank you, Alison and children.  Thank you.  You saved Christmas.