hotel greenland

I came home from French Polynesia to work a Greenland antenna rigging contract with two good friends I hadn’t seen in years. It was to be a dream team, working in a new place, crossing the Arctic Circle for the first time and a chance to get some tower work (aka spacewalks) in. The pictures were going to be amazing, the laughs the kind where you are doubled over starting to cry. The work was going to be challenging and satisfying.

But I am not going to Greenland. Instead, I am currently on Day 12 of the hotel quarantine in Albany, NY. I came here for the initial quarantine before flying over with the New York Air National Guard. But the day before we were to deploy, I tested positive for Covid, likely acquiring it during my commercial air travel here, the best I can tell. I’ve had only mild symptoms and have felt pretty good for most of the days. I’ve gotten lots of work done here on my computer in my nice hotel room. But this is not what I wanted to be doing.

To stay in a good mindset, every morning I listen to part of a Jack Kornfield podcast – he speaks about mindfulness and the miracle of being alive in this moment.. I then work on my french, go through the long list of emails, do some drawing, a bit of dancing, have organized my pictures, cleaned out my computer, did some work on a children’s book and various other work and non-work tasks. All in all, I’m happy about how I’ve dealt with the disappointment. But it’s been like being pulled off a mini-space mission at the last second. Thankfully, I should be able to get there in years to come as a rigger. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it’ll be with my two friends again. One can hope.

Otherwise, I’ve felt like I did in college. During that time, I was so ready for adventure – to get out of the structured confines of the academic schedule and into the real world. I wanted it so bad, it almost felt like I wasn’t going to make it. I was convinced they were going to find some reason to make me do another year. I’m now ready to be out of this hotel. I’m ready for some adventure. My senses are dulled a bit having been in this hotel for most of 12 days other than a handful of runs or walks. I still wonder if there is something I could have done to not have contracted the illness. But I generally try not to think of that sort of thing.

It’s still a beautiful thing to be alive, and I have lots to look forward to. Thankfully, my short term memory is relatively short. So as soon as I’m somewhere engaging, I will forget about this hotel. It might just make me appreciate those adventures all the more. And it could make getting to Greenland in the years to come, that much sweeter. Thankfully, I’ve just been notified that they’re letting me out of here tomorrow. Hallelujah, let the games begin. Hopefully the days spent getting stuff done here will pay off in more time outside. One can hope.

We live in a forever-changing impermanent world. We all walk around as if we’re never going to die, and that the people we love are never going to die. But we are all doomed for that fate, every one of us, some sooner, some later. Let’s use our time! Heading back to French Polynesia next week! One more round with the Noonsun crew!!