Antarctica Blog

The runway has been the a-buzz with activity these days. First there was the big Penguin (who is still wandering about I might add) and then, a few days ago a very, very small plane arrived with a single passenger, Jon Johnson. Jon is a humble Australian chap with several world aeronautical records under his belt. He wound up at McMurdo after a botched attempt at another. He was attempting to fly from New Zealand to Argentina over the South Pole in his tiny plane. Apparently, he ran into bad weather over the pole and had to turn back. He doesn?t have enough fuel to make it back to NZ and has been negotiating for fuel. He has been hanging around the runway for the past couple of days, sleeping in the fuels shack and eating here at the Runway Diner and meeting with people about his plight. The NSF and the USAP take a pretty hard line against ?privateers? and they refuse to refuel his plane. They want him to load it in a C-130 and pay for his flight back to NZ. His fate is still yet to be determined but I will keep you all updated on it.

Come potete vedere da quello che ha scritto Luke e’ arrivato un pinguino Imperatore all’aereoporto, e naturalmente sono dovuta andare a vederlo di persona! Che esperienza magnifica! Nonostante Luke avesse gia’ scattato un sacco di foto, non sono riuscita a resistere alla tentazione di farmi fare una “foto da turista”.
Qui ci stiamo preparando al Natale, anche se per noi e’ piu’ un problema che un piacere. Devo dire che non vedo l’ora che siamo finite le feste in modo da poter finire la stagione senza patemi d’animo e corse da fare.
In ogni caso, qui il clima e’ tutto meno che Natalizio. Il sole splende alto tutto il giorno, e tutta la neve che avevamo ricevuto si e’ sciolta, lasciandoci in un mare di fango. Le foche, pero’, sono contentissime e si crogiolano al sole in gruppi nutriti (e anche con i loro piccoli).
La vita continua serena nel sud del mondo e volevo cogliere questa occasione per augurare a tutti un ottimo Natale eccetera, eccetera.
Bacioni.

First of all I want to congratulate my brother Asa and his girlfriend Erin on the birth of their daughter Abigail. Best of luck to all three of them. We look forward to seeing our new niece this spring when we are back in the states.
The big news in town yesterday was the Emperor
out at the runway. He stood pretty much in the same spot for at least 5 hrs. The news of his presence spread quickly through town and people were soon flocking to see this regal bird. The shuttles were full most of the afternoon bringing people out to see the single penguin that seemed neither bothered nor moved by the presence of the paparazzi-like spectators. Our generally slow Saturday afternoon ranks at the runway dining facility were swollen by the presence of penguin tourists.
The storm has past and the sun has been back out turning town into a veritable mud pit. The streets are flowing with little rivulets and the transition onto the sea ice is getting worse by the day. I heard a rumor that the annual runway-move over onto the ice shelf is scheduled to happen the day after Christmas. Everyone is still positive about the sea ice clearing out allowing the yearly visit of the vessel to happen for the first time in 3 years. There is still ample snow around town and the GA?s have been hard at work all week shoveling out buildings, vehicles, storage tanks, and everything else that go buried by the storm. There have even been eruptions of snowball fights (often associated with sledding) which I am sure Justin Huston will be glad to hear. For the official report on the storm and it?s aftermath have a look at this week?s Antarctic Sun; our weekly Sunday paper.

I still haven’t been out to the runway. It will be a week tomorrow. The weather only got worse after my last entry. The day after, we hit condition 1 in town. Nearly everything shut down. The people who were stuck on the Black Island Traverse had to be rescued because their vehicle ran out of fuel. Some scientist also had to be rescued from near Cape Evans when their tent blew away in the storm. Flights remaind grounded and all the passengers who were scheduled to depart have been having a small holiday here in Mac Town. The group of Italian Geomagnetisist were among this group so we have spend the past few days keeping them entertained. We took them up to Skua Central the last night and we brought snacks and music and had a grand time browsing the flotsam of McMurdo life.
Last night was great weather and I went up to my snowboard hill to find that a big drift had formed making a beautiful natural jump. I took a bunch of runs and watched people sledding. I went back up again today with my friend Shane from Maine to complete the hattrick.
Well they are forcing us out of the Coffee Shop in order to abide by offical Navy recreation hours. Gotta wrap up.

The Antarctic version of Thanksgiving went off this weekend without a snag. We did 3 seatings of people from 1:30 to 6:00; the first of 250, the second with 350, and the last with 400. There were many volunteers throughout the day to help us so it actually made the day go by much easier than a normal day in the kitchen. Plus, Luci and I were just back, refreshed from our two days off in Hut 10 much to the jealously of our co-workers. On Wednesday we invited over a very few friends and I made my famous chicken curry for six which seems like snack in the pan after cutting up 350lbs of flank steak for a single meal for 1000. We did very little on Thursday (real thanksgiving) except sit around, watch movies and play computer games. We ate a bunch of our specialty food that we have been saving up: the smoked salmon from Lee in Alaska, some nice cheeses, a Pandoro from Luci?s parents, and a couple of mangoes. I called my Folks for the first time since we have been here. They were amazed that it could be Thanksgiving day here and still the night before there. I still haven?t figured out the time zones myself.
I haven?t been out to the Ice Runway since Friday (it is Monday here). On Saturday we had our Thanksgiving celebration and on Sunday and all day today it has been snowing like crazy. The most snow that I have seen since I?ve been here. We got over a foot yesterday and then it let up over night. Then this morning it started up again and has been going all day. The snow has been associated with 30-40 mph winds making for condition 1 in most places outside the base today. So the runway and the road to it have been closed for a couple of days and the flights have all been grounded. It looks like it is going to continue into tomorrow. A vehicle on its way back from the Black Island satellite communications station got stuck out in the weather crossing the bay over 24hrs ago and looks like it will be stuck for another night at least. I got out in the snow early on with a snowboard. The visibility was pretty low so I didn?t get any pictures.

The Eclipse went off today. I have to say, I was kind of let down. First of all, I had to work and would go outside in pieces. Then, out at the runway, the skies were clear in the morning and in the afternoon but, during the eclipse the skies were obscured by clouds. To top it all off, the batteries in my camera went dead so I couldn’t even attempt to salvage the day. I managed to pillage a picture and a satellite image from the McMurdo common drive which I have put up here for your enjoyment. I am not sure who to credit for these. The I: drive is usually considered public domain. Here is an article on the eclipse from Sky and Telescope Magazine. There are some better pictures of totality and of Vinson Massif, Antarctica’s tallest mountain.
There were more penguins interfereing with air traffic today. I saw the firemen out coercing them off the runway on our way back into town after lunch. In a world with out trees or kittens (or very many fires), the firemen herd penguins off the runway. What a wierd place.

Busy week. I told myself I was going to do more than one post this week but it never happened. There were schedule changes at work and I ended up working more than my regular 60hrs this week.
Luci
and I both received packages! We told my parents that if they wanted to send us anything for Christmas they had better do so soon. It arrived in 10 days. Luci?s package arrived sooner than it would have taken to send it to Italy. We also received some smoked salmon from our friend Lee in Alaska in about the same amount of time. I think these were an anomaly though. The APO has probably gotten rid of their back load of package mail in Christchurch. This is bound to get backed up again over the holidays. There is a period of a couple of weeks where there are no 141 (big planes) flights to McMurdo so we make due with the food we have and wait until later to get our mail. Thanks to both. It is always exciting to see your name on the list of package mail recipients.
We finally saw penguins! I first heard about them last Friday. On the drive back into town from the Runway we heard the Firemen on the radio saying ?someone needs top get out in the runway and get those penguins out of the way; the plane is only 20 miles out?. On the way back out for dinner we saw them. There were about ten of them all in a line. They were walking and sliding on their bellies. Over the next few days they were the talk of the base. One day they came really close to town so anyone could see them. There have also been numerous big fat seals almost in town. The Ice edge is getting closer everyday. On Sunday, at long last, I went out to Castle Rock
where you can actually see the Ice Edge in the distance. It is a long straight and flat walk to a rocky hill that is probably better done on cross-country skis. I was kind of in a hurry because I only have the morning off and had to be back by 4.
Next week promises to be eventful. On Monday there is a solar eclipse in Antarctica. The path of totality will be on the other side of the continent from us but we will see about 80% totality. I brought along a #14 welding glass so I can watch it with my eyes. Here is a link to a map of the entire eclipse.
On Wednesday and Thursday luci and I have Hut 10. Hut 10 is a normal house that used to be quarters of the commander of the Navy?s operation Deep Freeze. After Deep Freeze left it was turned over to recreation. A person can sign up for hut 10 once a season. People often throw lavish parties or departments will have appreciation parties for their workers. Luci and I signed up for the day before and the day of the actual thanksgiving. Here, Thanksgiving and Christmas are celebrated on the weekend following the actual day of the holiday. As most kitchen people work extra hours on the McMurdo fabricated thanksgiving, they are given a free day off to take when they want to. Luci and I both took it on Wednesday so both days we have hut 10 we are off and it is Thanksgiving. It has been many years since I was in a country where they celebrate thanksgiving or wasn?t working on it when I was in the US. One year we were in Mozambique with malaria and Luci got attacked by a turkey, to add insult to injury. I have spent more than a few in Italy where it is a day like any other (like the 4th of July). A couple of times I celebrated thanksgiving with the Peace Corps in Zambia which was a little strange to say the least. It is hard to consider it an actual thanksgiving when it is 90F and there are winged termites dive bombing your plate.
I am not sure which category to put this thanksgiving under. When people want to say ?in the US? they always say ?here? as if McMurdo was just like any other US town. And it feels in every way like it except we are able to change holidays to coincide with the work week. We also get to work at least 60hrs a week without having to worry about getting paid overtime. We still have to pay both federal and State taxes though, which really makes us feel right at home. In Antarctica there are no laws other than the Antarctic treaty and whichever American laws the NSF feels like enforcing. We are living in the Republic of the NSF. I guess I?ll just consider Thursday another Thanksgiving abroad and Saturday another farce of Antarctic law.

Mercoledi’ sera sono andata a Cape Evans con un’amica. L’escursione partiva dalla base alle 18:30 e il viaggio fino alla nostra destinazione e’ stato effettuato su un Delta Shuttle, ovvero un enorme veicolo arancione con le ruote alte come una persona (come potete vedere nella foto). Cape Evans e’ a circa 25 kilometri da McMurdo e, dopo un viaggio abbastanza accidentato, ci siamo arrivati in un’ora e mezza circa. A Cape Evans si trova una capanna costruita da una delle prime spedizioni Inglesi guidate da Scott, e grazie al freddo e alla bassissima umidita’ tutto all’interno ed esterno della costruzione e’ perfettamente conservato, nonostante sia stata abbandonata permanentemente nle 1916 o giu’ di li’. E’ un posto stupendo!
Vicino alla capanna si trova una piccola collina con una croce per commemorare i caduti delle varie spedizioni e da li’ sopra si riesce a vedere la striscia scura dell’oceano all’orizzonte!! L’acqua e’ a circa 30 miglia da noi e teniamo tutti le dita incrociate che quest’anno (a differenza dell’anno scorso) la baia si sciogliera’ e il porto diventera’ attivo.
Comunque, e’ naturalmente possibile visitare la capanna all’interno, anche se il gruppo neozelandese che se ne prende cura limita il numero di visitatori a 1000 all’anno. E’ un’esperienza incredibile, specialmente se si considera il fatto che il posto e’ stato abbandonato di fretta, e che quindi molto oggetti di uso comune sono stati lasciati in giro come se qualcuno dovesse ritornare da un momento all’altro!
Spero che le foto riescano a trasmettere l’atmosfera del posto…

Vicino alla capanna, inoltre, una foca e il suo piccolo si stavano crogiolando al sole (anche se era nuvoloso) e quindi abbiamo avuto al possibilita’ di vederli da vicino. Il piccolo emetteva dei rumori di richiamo per la sua mamma, mentre lei si adoperava per mantenere sempre il suo corpo fra il piccolo il vento. Un bellissimo spettacolo!

Purtroppo Luke era al lavoro quella sera, ma conto che riesca ad andare a sua volta questa domenica (magari quando ci sara’ il sole!). Uscire all’aperto e allontanarsi dalla base per vedere il continente aiuta un sacco a mantenere una prospettiva positiva sul nostro lavoro e sul perche’ siamo qui. Il continente e’ semplicmente stupendo e veramente selvaggio, e vale la pena lavorare sodo per studiarlo e mantenerlo incontaminato.

Another week gone. This one really flew by. I have been fighting an affliction that is affectionately known as the ?crud?. It is a mild upper respiratory virus that can be debilitating when working 6, 10 hours days in a row. I am on the mend but still not 100% yet. I am happy to say I didn?t miss a day of work though I came close one day. Today is our day off and it is nice weather but very windy which makes all the difference here. I decided that I had better use my day to rest and fully get over the crud rather than go out in the cold and get sick again.
As I mentioned in my last posting, I went to the base dentist today. Over the past couple of days I have become quite familiar with his work. Yesterday, at the end of my shift, I was helping my DA do our dishes from the runway in the main galley dish machine (known as Bertha), when our friend Jason from NH walked in the dish-room. It was a strange sight considering we hadn?t expected to see him again until much later in the season when he would be passing through McMurdo on his way back from Pole. It was an even stranger sight when he smiled showing part of one of his front teeth missing; clearing up any question as to why he had come back to MacTown. Apparently he was hit by a falling scientific instrument while fixing doors a South Pole Station. Luckily for him, he did it on the job and was flown immediately here where the dentist put a cap on it and he is already back at Pole fixing doors. Welcome to the club, Jason.
As I had an appointment to see the same (and only) dentist today, I was encouraged to see the good work he had done on Jason?s tooth. I needed to have a bad filling on a molar removed and replaced. As I was waiting for the Novocain to take effect the dentist and I struck up a conversation. He had his own practice for 24 years when he decided to give it up and sail across the pacific. I asked him if he had ever done any sailing in Maine. ?You from Maine?? he asked, ?the PA I am training for winter-over is from Maine. I should get her in here to watch?. So, my filling replacement turned into a lesson on how-not to do a filling and how to correct a bad one. My dentist office visits always end up being the most bizarre experiences!
The most bizarre part was yet to come. I actually knew the PA from Maine! When she came in the room, I didn?t recognize her at first sight because she was upside down. When I asked where in Maine she was from and she replied, ?Vinalhaven? I had to sit up in the chair and look at her right-side up. ?How is it your from Vinalhaven and I don?t know you?, I asked, vaguely beginning to recognize her. She said ?unless you have been to the Clinic on the Island, you might not?. As soon as she said she worked at the Clinic I immediately remembered. ?You put the stitches in my chin!? Strange re-meeting, worlds away!
In other news: there are 4 Italians here working on a month-long geomagnetism project. They are doing flights over Mt. Erebus measuring the magnetic blah blah blah and that?s where my concentration and comprehension begin to drop away. But, it is nice to be able to speak Italian on a regular basis with someone other than Luci. One of their group is actually Spanish but lives in Rome. He spent many seasons working on the 15 men strong Spanish base on the peninsula and was completely blown away by McMurdo. ?I can?t believe that I can walk out the door and it will still be Antarctica outside?, we heard him say. I the rest of them are equally astounded by life in MacTown, I think, all except for the expedition leader who has been here before. It will be fun to have them around and hopefully they will be willing to help get us out of town and into the field with them.
I haven’t been able to get Luci to write. She can’t stop playing Ceasar enough to write in Italian or English. Another week with no new photos. Being cooped up with the crud is not condusive to photography. I am going to try to get some of our work environment for the next posting. Till then…

Wow, it HAS been a while since I wrote last. I guess as we get settled into the work routine here the newness and novelty of the place wears out. It has been a long week. Thursday (our day off ) was bad weather so we didn?t do much. We did manage to run some errands but still haven?t gotten out to Castle Rock.
We are both on a Caesar binge. Caesar is a computer game. It is one of these SIM City type games where you have to design a city meeting certain criteria. You have to consider everything from policing neighborhoods to food production. Caesar happpens to be based on a Roman theme. Living in McMurdo reminds of living in a simulated society. In a way it feels like an attempt at a utopian society but more in the vein of the ?company town? during the industrial revolution than a Brook Farmseque social experiment. I guess we are essentially colonists exploiting the continent for scientific data.
Today I went to see the (company) dentist. As some of you know, I have a long history with dentists; sometimes good, most of the time bad. At least I didn?t get booted out of the office this time. I did leave the office with an appointment for next Thursday, my next day off, to fix a failing filling.
Summer is in full swing here now. Snow in the sun melts and snow in the shade freezes. The big iceberg, that has been blocking sea currents and causing problems for the migratory penguin colonies and the offload of fuel for the migratory human colony at McMurdo base, officially broke up last week. You may have heard it referred to as ?The iceberg the size of the state of _______? but here we use a much less colorful name but one that is more exemplary of our data product: B15. During the past couple of weeks we have also been seeing another sign of summer; the seasonal migratory birds called Skua. They look very much like seagulls only about 7 lbs heavier and they get into the trash just like seagulls, too. Skua is also the name of the local thrifte shoppe. The sign on the door actually says Σκυά Σεντραλ. It is a trailer up at the Waste building where the re-usable flotsam of life on the ice is deposited in a somewhat orderly manner and picked over by the brave and the desperate.
Here is a picture of Ivan the TerraBus for no particular reason other than it is interesting to look at. It is used when a plane full of PAX (passengers) arrives and needs to be shuttled into town from the Ice Runway.