Sunday, December 23, 2012

The Gear

One of the benefits of this expedition is that it comes with a majority shareholder's stake in REI. At least,  that's the only explanation I can come up with for why our house is suddenly deluged with all kinds of stuff from The Great North.  Once again, Mindy has shown her ability to turn even the most remote trek into a shopping spree.


These boots are, in fact, made for walkin' ... in subzero temperatures, over harsh terrain, while keeping one's toes warm and dry.  All the fashionable penguin models will be wearing these next season.


To paraphrase the immortal words of Shrek, Antarctic explorers are like onions - they have many, many layers, and their presence often brings you to tears.  Lest you doubt, at some point in the trip, Mindy WILL be wearing every single one of these.  In related news, she has accepted a cast role in the retelling of "A Christmas Story."


Sustenance. We all need it, and we all get it in different forms.  For Mindy, it takes the form of granola bars (because sometimes the treehugger jokes write themselves), Motrin (because we ain't as young as we once was), and the Apple power cable (because no one has figured out yet how to permanently affix a solar panel to an iPhone).


Finally, you have to have something to carry all this stuff in.  And because REAL Antarctic explorers don't use wheels, that means a variation on the classic duffel bag.  The smaller bag is NOT a fanny pack, but some kind of ruggedized clutch purse (yes, I know what a clutch purse is - you can pry my Man Card from my cold, dead, manicured hands).

And, of course, lots of film equipment and lenses.  For those of you wondering, yes, it IS possible to find lens adapters for a 35mm digital camera at 6 pm on Friday in Bakersfield.

The countdown continues...

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