The author, enjoying the chance to wear his Antarctic outfit.

Hi Everyone!

I’m posting today to wish everyone all the love and joy the season can bring on the occasion of Christmas-Eve.  I’m sure this post is a surprise for you in any case-  what kind of awe-inspiring event must have happened to get Ralph blogging again?

There have been a few developments in the last few months that I need to share-  but not today.  I need to start with a personal apology.   Maintaining the blog has been one of my roles in ANSMET for over a decade, and I’ve been really bad at it since the pandemic started and our 2020-21,  2021-2022 and 2022-2023 field seasons were cancelled.  I’ve felt guilty about it every winter,  and I regret letting you down.

But given that a holiday message is a poor place to deconstruct my laziness, instead I am going to promise to work a little harder at sharing what’s happened with ANSMET.  I’ll try to post at least once a week through the next few months (during what would have been our field season).  And let me apologize in advance that without the daily updates from the field, there will probably be a few posts that read more like personal rants.  I may also sneak in a little fun stuff if the inspiration hits me;  and it’s likely there will be a few calls for engagement.     I hope you can tolerate a little over-sharing, requests,  and self-effacement as the price of keeping me blogging.

Let me close by saying Santa (or the gift-giving spirit of your choice) has been very good to ANSMET through the difficult times of the past few years, and we are very grateful for everyone’s support.   Jim, John, Brian and I all hope you find something utterly wonderful under the tree for Christmas (or the gift-exchanging holiday tradition of your choice) this season.  I’m grateful for the opportunity to communicate with you more frequently as the days start to get longer and we enter a new year.

-Ralph,  from blizzard-wracked Novelty, Ohio