here are strange things done in the midnight sun, By the men who moil for gold; The arctic trails have their secret tales, That would make your blood run cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. ~Robert Service
The world is changing in many ways but staying the same in others. We are still here in the arctic, moiling for oil. But we have seen some strange sights. 15 hours of sunlight seems normal compared to the things we have seen.
Did you know there is a palm tree inside the Arctic Circle? It’s the only one I know of this far North. It’s a rare sight.
The well we are on has thrown us more than one curve ball. We have seen faults and problems with the mud. But the most problems came from the floats that keep the mud from coming back up the hole when we make a connection. Turns a 10 minute process into an hour-long ordeal. Luckily, there is lots to discuss while we slowly and painstakingly drill this well.
Every day we get new decrees and regulations on how to handle the coronavirus. It changes almost by the hour. Shocking, as we are a remote community of workers, but they keep changing people and everyone is worried. People would rather be home with their families and many have already left. Yours truly will be out of here just as soon as we finish this well.
Spike room 
Can’t use half the gym 
Not my room
This week we have gone from business as usual to having a limit on the number of people who can get food at a time, and now we all have to have our temperature checked when we get in line for food. By Tuesday we will have to wear masks in all public places. Problem is we don’t have any public places! They close the camps to the public and the rig is a controlled entry for authorized personnel only. They have taken away most of the chairs in the dining hall and half the tables. But today they want to have a big feast for Easter. We shall see how this goes. I have seen doors taped off like the person inside was being quarantined. I have seen a rumor of a sick truck driver tear thru a rig crew faster than a California wildfire. Within 20 minutes everyone was wearing masks even though they had quarantined the driver and he had contact with only one person on the rig. The masks are the industrial ones that make working uncomfortable on the best of days.
no temperature no food 
stand here! 
this is how we stand in line 
If its on paper its real
And just when you think you have seen it all this week, you learn that they are closing the gym at 10 pm tomorrow. What are we going to do!?
And then this morning, what a sight! At 2:45 the Northern Lights were blazing a green and yellow streak across the sky while the sun turned the eastern sky blue. Eventually the sun won and the lights faded to the point I had to go back to work.
