FAQ #5: Did you send a long, boring Holiday Greeting?

November 27, 1993

Dear ____________________, (Real personal, right? NOT! But it saves time.)

The "Great Excuse Maker" strikes: "...and then the UFO landed and the little green men took away the huge bundle of letters (to all I owed letters) just an instant prior to them being mailed. Really Officer, I don't know why aliens wanted my letters - they were just extremely well written and detailed accounts of past Arctic adventures, what's happening in my life, the kind of work I do, what its like to live in 24 hours of light (and dark), what its like to have weeks on end of minus forty degrees, what it is like to witness a howling (120 MPH) blinding (visibility of one foot) blizzard, what its like to eat seal or whale or Arctic hare, how much longer I'll be here, when I might visit again, and of course I included specific answers to all my friends questions from their last letter..."

The "Wimpy Reason Offeror" strikes: Been real busy. Fifty-four hours a week plus "home work" makes Jack a dull boy. Up at four-thirty, work at six, home at six, dinner at seven, bed at nine-thirty, up at four....

Truth revealed here for the first time: The "Great Procrastinator" strikes again: Meant to write long before now. Meant to start this note an eon ago. Meant to take time to write a personal letter to all those I've been intending to write, since last Christmas. Meant to order some cards to reflect a genuine hope for your peace, happiness, prosperity and good health. Meant to have everything ready to mail by now. Meant well, but didn't follow through - Now find last year's stack of cards received (not so neatly stored - moved in eleven months from reading table to desk to shelf to box and back) still unanswered - BUT NOT FORGOTTEN - as YOU have remained unforgotten and often thought of throughout '93 (with pangs of guilt for not writing; or, for not writing often enough - depending on which of you receives this word processed dribble). So, with stack of 92's incoming in hand, and one day to get the job done (tomorrow I pack for a month's holiday in Denmark) I must resort to this lowest form of communication, the generic letter.

The news, very quick version: Contract with Greenland Contractors extended to April 94. Mette and I enjoying the Arctic, and each other - Its a Wonderful Life! Straight daylight (or dark or cold or blizzard) is no longer challenging. Not missed is the absence of shopping malls (and their crowds), or traffic jams (and their quickened pulse), or murders around the corner (and their bone-chilling emotions).

The truth is I love it here. More truth: I hope you had a wonderful year and '94 will be even better. I hope for world peace and a personal, inner peace for you. I send my very best wishes for your joy during this holiday season and a hope for a most prosperous and healthy New Year. And, I intend to write more in '94 - and will if those green men don't stop me, again...