photo by Jim Richardson.

Who says the Post Office doesn’t provide good service? Not only do they mail your packages, they give you cookies, to boot.

The Christmas season opened in usual style in Cuba, Kansas on Saturday night and every business in town (and that’s not that many in a town of 200) was giving out goodies. The Post Office included. Besides that they were signing everybody up for the gift drawing over at the community hall where everybody in town got a gift. Every last person. That’s how they do things in zip code 66940.

Merry Christmas.

photo by Gordon Wiltsie

This picture reflects a poignant moment in our two-month expedition to Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, during which four of the six members were away from our families. As we sat around a paper tree and shared a Santa hat while listening to Bing Crosby croon, “White Christmas,” our videographer Mike Graber remarked, “What kind of idiot would spend Christmas freezing half to death in Antarctica rather than being home under the tree with his little girls.”

All of us fathers felt that way, but it’s one of the prices we pay to join an expedition.