Christmas-ish Time

Christmas came late here in Antarctica this year. See, it was like this... Santa can only come as far South as New Zealand as the weather is too unpredictable, foggy, windy and too cold for the reindeer to fly so far without any place to stop. After he leaves presents in New Zealand they are flown down here on planes, mostly the C-17's, for us to enjoy. This year the plane got a crack in the windshield and couldn't fly until a new windshield was flown down from the United States. That meant that our Christmas presents didn't arrive on the goodies from ice until several days after Christmas and have continued to come for the last couple of weeks off and on! I've received many wonderful boxes of lots of friends and family. It has been so fun for all of us to have such a fantastic variety of goodies from home. Having treats from home are fun since none of them are available here. The latte machine has been incredible, the chocolates from my family were gone far too quickly, the blanket is super snuggly, and I'm really enjoying all of the books and games as well. We did have a little Christmas tree that I skua'd right when I arrived in October. It still lives on the top of the little tv/vcr in our room and gains new decorations all the time. It's getting to be quite festive! My guess is that it will stay up until I leave the ice the mid/end of February and then it will go back to skua to live another year in someone else's room. What a story this little tree could tell!

Views all around

Just a few photos of the area that give some nice views. The first is a nice shot of McMurdo station from above, perhaps Ob Hill. You can see Mt Erebus steaming in the background and the annual sea ice off to the left side of the picture. This shot is looking to the North-West.

The next shot is of the pressure ridges out from Scott Base which is the Antarctica-New Zealand station. Off in the background to the West you can see the Transantarctic mountains and the Royal Society Mountain Range. The pressure ridges occur with the annual ice pushes up against the permanent ice shelf or another non-moving mass. They are cracks that come up in the ice and often you can see critters such as seals that come up out of the sea below to hang out.

This last photo is of Mount Erebus. It is one of the few active volcanos in the world that has an open top and is constantly releasing pressure. You can see it steaming away most days and there are some pretty neat videos into the top where you can see it all bubbling and exploding away inside. Again looking mostly to the North-ish.

Getting ready for Christmas?

Well, Christmas is nearly upon us and I have to say, I still am not really feeling it. It's tough down here as there isn't much that seems festive and Christmasy. I'll give them credit, they do try. There are some big decorations that they've hung from the poles on the streets, there's a little Christmas tree and some lights in the galley and a few other decorations around trying to help the mood. As Christmas is my very-most-favorite-of-all holiday it just simply isn't cutting it for me. I want to be with family and friends and enjoying the holidays looking at Christmas lights at night in the dark, decorating my house, doing all the mandatory holiday baking and treat eating, shoveling snow off the driveway and sidewalks, listening to Christmas music and generally feeling the holiday spirit. On top of it all I tweaked my back again just over a week ago and so have been off work and lying around in bed all drugged up. What fun! The weather has continued to be fussy bringing lots of ground fog and snow. This means that the planes are unable to fly, more so land, and consequently there have been very few if any flights to and from Christchurch. Planes from New Zealand sometimes = package mail so that would be nice. Nothing that we can do about the weather though. The C-17's were supposed to fly the first mission in since November yesterday but again, the weather wasn't cooperative. We've all been really excited for their return as they are sure to bring some of the tens of thousands of pounds of package mail that is sitting up in Christchurch.

Anyhow, on to other things. Last night we had our A-shift Fire Department Christmas party at Hut 10. We had some ricotta cheese, fresh onions and garlic, and Italian sausage flown down on one of the C-130's for our meal of lasagna and pasta. Chief spent the entire day before making homemade meatballs and lasagna noodles and the dinner was absolutely delicious. I'd forgotten how good garlic bread with fresh garlic tastes! The party was great fun and started off with dinner and drinks. People mingled in and it was good to see lots of the B-shift folks there as well. We had drawn names for a Secret Santa exchange. There were small gifts given in the weeks and days before but the main gift exchange was at last night's party. A month or so ago, prior to the date of the party being set, I had committed to call bingo at "Junk Food Bingo" night. The time was quickly approaching when I'd have to step out of the party for my bingo obligations and I was afraid I'd miss the gift exchange. Lucky for me, they started the exchanging earlier than planned. There was some definite creativity involved in a lot of the gift giving and some really funny gifts along with the ever perfect gift of alcohol that is a popular choice for many down here, what with the rationing of booze and all. One of the Lt's/FPO Josh was Santa and Roney took the role of elf. Not your typical elf, mind you, but he did a stellar job. My name was called and I came up to Santa who presented me with a large red gear bag. I knew this could be trouble and had no idea at all what could possibly be inside. I began opening the bag to discover another big red gear bag inside, and another and another and another and another. I think there were at least six or seven bags to unzip. Once inside the final bag I glanced in and to my utter shock and surprise there was an Antarctic Fire Department helmet that had been signed by the guys and gals in the fire crew from both shifts. I was stunned and knowing me, yes, there were a few tears shed. I'm going to partially blame that on the drugs... How thoughtful and kind and what a perfect gift. Lt. Alabastro, you've done a perfect job with this one! Thank you! It was super cool and really means a lot to me.

On that emotional note, I zipped out to go call bingo at Gallaghers. I wasn't sure if anyone was going to show to help me but it was all good. I figured I'd get it done, have a good time and head back to the party. No sooner than I'd gotten through the instructions from Chrissie in Rec than I see Kyle walking in to help me out. He'd left the party also to help and be there to support me. I'm so fortunate that these are the kind of people that I get to work with on a daily basis. We began the bingo games and tore through what we fondly called Speed Bingo in no time at all. I think there were six games in all and we were done with all six and two five minute breaks in just about an hour. Speed demons we are!! It was a fun thing to do and I think both Kyle and I had a good time. After sampling a handful of one of the winners Lucky Charms cereal we headed back to the party at hut 10. As I'd been pretty immobile I spent the majority of the party sitting by watching the rest of the gang party it up, dancing and goofing about. It was great fun to be out and doing something social but I just wish I could have played more. There was more dancing and a good dose of drunken debauchery. Funny, funny people and lots of laughing for me.
After a few more hours of that I was tired and my back was urging me back to a flat surface and a good nights sleep. Sweet dreams and wishes for holiday cheer!

Fun, Food, and Friends!!

Sunday was the McMurdo Cyclocross bike race. It was a pretty fun event with lots of very funny people. I had volunteered to help staff one of the spots along the route to direct the riders in the right direction. It was a rather cool morning here and yet the participants still showed up in full costume and brimming with creativity. Superman, Santa, a Suit, and SpeightsMan all were there along with Sara the cycling clown and a gentleman clad in a leopard print dress and feather boa! Too funny and although I'd rushed to get there on time after brunch and was not really dressed warmly enough in my jeans and coat with no gloves it was well worth the chill to get to laugh so much and be a part of the fun. The racers were true champs, particularly given the less than smooth road conditions, chilly air and bicycles that didn't all stay together. One guy lost a tire, twice and another came strolling past with the entire pedal and it's parts in his hand. Regardless of the defect, everyone was smiling and having a good time of it all.

Groceries came yesterday thanks to a wonderful group of the LC-130 flight crew guys who offered to do a little shopping if given a list and some cash. Specifically Steve, thanks! It means so much to be able to have the tiny little things that make it feel like home, if even for only a few minutes.

Today Diane, Sara and I took the shuttle over to Scott Base to try to replace a few little stuffed penguins that we'd sent home with our friend Don for his boys. Diane had heard rumor that they had the little fellas back in stock so we headed that way. When we arrived, Kat broke the sad news to us that in fact, no, there were still no little penguins. It was true they were en route, but still trapped away in some cold pallet someplace between Christchurch and here. Not to worry though, we managed to make the trip worthwhile by picking up a few more yummy Kiwi candy bars and snacks, Jaffas being my favs. Unfortunately, we missed the return shuttle and had to begin to walk back to MacTown. We weren't dressed well for walking, I had on a tank top and Big Red and Sara just had a little light shell of a jacket. She was too cold and I was dying of heat in my big, fat, non-breathable parka. Luck was on our side, for a truck of GA's stopped by and we hitched a ride the rest of the way with them. Good thing, I was getting grouchy! :-)

We got back to town just in time to put our goodies away and be ready for the biggest excitement of the day. Our good friend Jawn, Col. Sischo to be more formal, returned today from Christchurch where she'd gone away for too many days. Sara had made a huge butcher paper sign that said "Got Jawn?" and since we couldn't get out to the Sea Ice runway where the Kiwi Herc that she was flying in on was landing we waited outside my dorm building along the roadside for her to drive by. She loved the sign and as they drove by they pulled up in the van right into the alley where we were so she could tell us "Fireflies" how much she loved it. It's good to have her back and nice to help make her feel so welcome again. My guess is we'll end up at the coffee bar tonight for some more fun and laughter!

Out and About

Monday evening after dinner a group of us decided to take a little jaunt up Ob Hill. Diane is the mountain goat of the group and Mike, Don and I moseyed along behind. It was such a warm evening with no wind at all and the skies were bright and clear. When we left for our walk about 10pm it was still around +34 degrees! I had worn only my down sweater and wind shell for jackets and ended up taking them both off and tying them around my waist. One of the guys ditched his coat halfway up alongside the trail and we picked it up on the way down. The views from the top were as cool as ever and it's amazing to see how much the pressure ridges and rollers over by Scott Base have grown in just two months. Quite spectacular. We could see the mountain views and ranges, Willy Field runway, Happy Camper and all of MacTown. The wind started up a titch on the way down and we'd made it just in time for the less than balmy temperatures. The next day was a work day so off to bed...

It's Wednesday now and has been a nice day off. The usual leisurely activities and chores
took up a good part of the day as did a good workout. Tonight a group of us met at the science lecture in Crary about the migration patterns of Adelie penguins. Not a bad talk, but more researcher/science guy info than a lot of us could handle and not enough cute penguin pictures. Oh and by the way, I still haven't seen a live penguin. Sigh. Since we were in the building we went down to the aquarium to see the newest inhabitants. There are pretty much no sea urchins left and not many sea stars. The fish though are still hanging out and doing their thing! We spent some time there looking at, holding, reading about the critters and talking and laughing about our personal experiences with them. I still think my fishing story is the funniest. :-) The bracchei (sp) are so fun to play with. It seems like they realize when someone comes in and they want the human attention. I'm sure that's not the case, but come on, who really knows for sure?! They were pretty still in the bottom of their tanks when we arrived and then started coming up to the top to "visit" popping their little heads and mouths up out of the water. So cute! There were some new players in one of the tanks and I don't know what type of fish they are. I'll see if I can find out. More sea spiders than I care for and far, far too many sea lice. They are just absolutely creepy! {{shiver}} As we were leaving the aquarium we turned around to find an ice machine. Wouldn't you know it, it's a snowman poo ice machine! Our joy was squashed though when we saw the sign that said it was not for human consumption. I trust it as the last thing I need is a fish parasite. Eewww.

From there we headed to the coffee house for another Tractor Club meeting as there were new members to be sworn in and I had to get my grocery list to those who can make things happen. This is a serious thing, you know? Another good time was had by all and we were up way too late making new friends and laughing, talking and chatting. It's the sunlight...bad for sleep, good for socializing.

And Erin, Happy Birthday to you!!! I hope it was a great day! I was thinking about you.

Happy Camper!

Well, it was bound to happen... My turn finally came up to go to the ever-dreaded but oh-so-desired experience of Happy Camper school. Happy Camper is an abbreviated Arctic survival training for two days and one night. And as my luck seems to continue, the night before I was to go there was talk of a nasty storm with 50 knot winds and snow and blowing snow. One can only imagine how thrilled I was with this news! Once I woke Friday morning I could tell the next two days were going to be long and potentially miserable. It was very gray, overcast and lightly snowing outside. I pulled up my bootstraps so to say, packed up all my necessary and required gear and headed off to the SSC/FSTP for the beginning portion of the day which was meant to be classroom. To my horror, when I arrived there they instructor said "We're going to do things a little differently today and head right out to the instructor hut and do our classroom stuff there." Not a problem really, other than the fact that I had intentionally worn only the base layers of my ECW gear planning to toss on the remainder before we headed to the snow and ice fun. We loaded up in the Delta with all our gear and headed out to the instructor hut and then to Snow Mound City. Andre', another firefighter had brought along Roscoe, his sock puppet that was sent to him from home for the adventure. It was pretty funny to say the least. I brought along my tractor. It didn't happen that I had the chance to add my additional layers and consequently was pretty cold and miserable for the first several hours out in the instructor Quonset hut. We learned about all the equipment we'd be using, cold weather safety, how to set up and use the HF (high-frequency) radios, called the South Pole to say hello and see what they were up to, and other important things I'm sure. From there we had a chance to layer up completely and then walked out to Snow Mound City where we'd build our little commune and spend the night. The wind was blowing a lot at this point and at times it was tough to even stand up into it. Fifty knots was the wind speed I heard.

Our first stop was to the milvan/shed to pick up the tents and survival bag. We pulled out the sleds, loaded them with the tents, cooking stoves, shovels and saws, bedding bags and personal ECW and other gear for the night. This took a few different trips between the shed and the campsite, but once we got everything there we began the process of building a camp in survival-type conditions. We even did it all for real rather than trying to do it while pretending there was wind, snow, and poor visibility. We learned how to set up and secure tents in the winds so that none of the pieces or parts disappear, how to secure them into the snow by digging "deadman trenches" or in the ice with ice screws. And how to deal with trying to cook and make water in such conditions. Did you know you can burn snow? Once the tents were up and secured we started on the process of cutting and popping out large snow bricks from the snow and moving them over on sleds to build a couple of wind wall for some protection. It's like building an igloo, but only in straight walls. With the weather the way that it was with snow, blowing snow and lowered visibility Trevor, our instructor, made the decision that we wouldn't even try to build quinsey's in the snow. Kind of a bummer because they are pretty cool structures. They are basically snow caves, but are mounds above the surface that look like igloos a bit and are hollowed out in the center where you sleep right on the snow. The work that we already did have to do was plenty. It was exhausting for all of us to be working so hard and fighting to even stand up in the strong winds. It was condition two for a good part of the time and for a while did go to condition one (condition fun as Trevor called it)! Lucky ducks we are!! When we first arrived and began setting up camp I set my travel mug down next to a flag so that it wouldn't be in the way or get lost. After camp was set up I went back to retrieve it and got there just in time as it was barely still visible with the snow almost completely covering the entire mug. Whoops! At this point we were left instructor-less for the night and people started to mill about figuring out where they would sleep for the night. I had been given a radio to check in with him at 8pm and again at 8am. We had two Scott tents and three mountaineering tents. A couple of people went exploring a bit, dug out two of the quinsey's from previous groups and elected to sleep in them. Dinner was a do it yourself at your own pace pour the boiling water in a bag of backpacking food thing. Tasty? I think not. I ate what I could and then had another granola bar instead. After checking in on everyone, calling in my radio report, one last potty at the pee flag in the snow, and filling up a hot water bottle to cuddle with I headed off to my tent to try and see if I could possibly sleep. It was tricky as the sleeping bags, although very warm, were strangling me. We were also given fleece bag liners and with my fleece pants and long underwear top I felt like a flannel board story every time I tried to move. Finally I gave up and removed myself from the liner using it as a blanket rather than shackles. Inside the bag wearing a warm hat on me head I was pretty warm through the night other than having a face that was a little cold. The hot water bottle was a lifesaver and was remarkably still warm in the morning! I did sleep a bit, but with the sunlight coming through the tent, the wind flapping all night, the less than super comfortable sleeping bag on the snow floor it wasn't the most restful night I've had.

I woke the next day about 7am as I once again had to go to the bathroom pretty bad. It was a gorgeous morning and very clear and bright. How surprised was I to see that there were all sorts of other snow sculptures and buildings so near by where we'd set up? Some ambitious person from a past camper group had carved out a couch, television, remote control and soda can in the snow. Pretty funny stuff! After enjoying the beauty and solitude for a few minutes I went about waking people up to begin the process of taking down the camp so that we'd be back out at the shed to meet Trevor by 9am. He met us there, we loaded our things back into the Delta, walked back to the instructor hut for a little training on how to find someone lost in a whiteout. This was pretty funny as we simulated the whiteout by all wearing five gallon buckets with faces drawn on them on our heads. From there we headed back into town for some training on Helo operations and the rules and such that you'd need to know if you are traveling to a field camp by helicopter. By the end of it we were free by about 2:30 pm which left time for a long hot shower and unpacking before dinner time.

All in all it was a pretty darn fun camping trip. I feel more confident that I could survive in a situation like that much better than I would have before. I also learned some skills and tricks that will help out in other areas as well. It is good to gain new skills, knowledge and information even if I don't foresee myself doing a terrific amount of cold weather camping in the near future. It's just too dang cold for me!!! It was a fun adventure, an exhausting 36 hours and I can honestly say that by George, I think I'd do it again!

FunRazor anyone?

Tonight was a complete riot. The Kiwi's over at Scott Base hosted a "FunRazor" head shaving benefit for children's cancer. The process was such that one could bid to get to shave someone's head or just bid on that person having their head shaved. It went from just heads to eyebrows, beards, moustaches, chests and backs. There were even a couple of women that had their heads lightened up...bald. And as though shaving wasn't enough, a couple of chaps had their eyebrows waxed and one guy, his entire back. Yikes! Now that part was just a titch much for me and therefore I shall spare you the pictures. All in good fun though and for a fantastic cause. I even jumped into the fun and took a turn shaving one of the fellows head. I'd never shaved with a razor trimmer thing and it was a little nervewracking as I thought for a bit that I might cut him. Got over that real quick and went to town leaving him a bit on the face and a small tuft on his head to run his fingers through. Considerate of me, eh?! Anyhow, at the end of the evening Scott Base had raised $1,700.00 dollars which was fantastic in the scheme of things. I believe the entire country of new Zealand raised $30,000.00 total. It was great fun, as it always is with those crazy Kiwi's and so neat to see so many buck up for such a worthwhile cause. Towards the end of the evening they surprised us with delicious homemade pizzas. A super yummy treat and they folks over there prepare some of the best food I've had! Thanks!!