Life, back atcha

Two weeks later, I look back at my "exciting" return:
moving into my new house, getting the landlord to finally Finish my new house, finding out why I never wanted to be an accountant (by doing the accounting for 5 mos travel), paying bills, cleaning my new house, buying paint, unpacking.... Going snowshoeing with Jess, and imagining the Royal Societies in the distance. Trail running at Highbanks and (pleasantly) surprising myself with my time/distance. Receiving calls on my cell phone and catching up with people about wedding plans, new job plans, and the lot.
Having Grandma tell me about Nate's birthday wish (my first cousin once removed). His sisters go to the hotel for pool parties and such for their bday parties, but Nate's always been a bit different; Randy calls him her little old man. For his 9th(?) birthday, all he wanted was to be picked up from school in a semi. Luckily, Ben her bro, drives semis, and arranged to be there Friday to scoop him up from school and take him and his cousin to the (oil) rig (Ben runs). They had a blast.
Seeing children, both at church and helping my friend Laura with her 3-mo-old twins. Seeing my advisor, and my group-mates. While the idea he had about me combining some old gamma-ray knowledge I had with my newer cosmic-ray understanding probably won't pan out, at least he was thinking and suggesting things for a final chapter or two of my thesis! . Swapping missing folks back in the states for missing folks from the Ice and traveling.
...
So it's not exactly backpacking Arthur's Pass, climbing hand-over-fist up the waterfall in the mist and then down the pass, past verdant alpine scrub clinging to rock beside a rushing creek. Or hiking up to Ball Glacier in Mt Cook, cavorting with crampons and ice axe (for the first time ever!), exploring crevasses, and then slowly route-finding down the ridge beside Mt Cook itself, listening and occasionally watching as almost hourly rumbling heralded the collapse of yet another snowfield or scree slope. Neither has it been the unknown of hitching around the South Island, knowing there's enough in my pack for the evening, no matter where I find myself (ok, barring a $100/entree restaurant with black tie dress code. :). Greatest perhaps is the contrast with the simplicity of McMurdo, where the food was ready even if it was a bit aged, the room ready, if shared, and the tasks of the day well-defined and straight-forward
...
Yet, the great unknown lurks just around the completion of this last task (finishing my degree), luring me with vistas of more mountains to climb and gardens to grow (starting with herbs this spring!). Perhaps the great adventure isn't so far off after all; perhaps I'll manage a few mini-adventures in the meantime. Just to keep in practice. :)