Every year around the first of December we roll up our tents and everything else and move off of the Ice Runway. I think we look like gypsies breaking camp. People moving around in a well choreographed movement designed to get all the planes and equipment to the new snow covered skiways and ramps. The fire station, galley and toilets also move to the new location. At the same time we open Pegasus field a permanent ice runway that can be used year around for wheeled aircraft as opposed to the ice runway which is only available seasonally. The flurry of activity today will culminate with the departure of my room mate on the C-17 which will be the last movement from the ice runway for the season. By the end of next week there will be no sign that a runway ever existed on the ice and the natural order of nature will be restored as the seals and penguins resume their occupation of the area. Not long after that the ice breaker will appear to clear a channel into the station. The killer whales will be close on the heals of the ice breaker as it clears the way to their dinner table in the McMurdo Sound. As the Fourth of July marks the middle of the summer season, so this move marks the middle of our season here. It’s now that people begin noodling about what they will do when they leave the ice. Just knowing this is my last season here is making the clock seem to turn even faster. I find myself, like Jammer Joe, living each moment to the fullest. I must admit I felt pangs of homesickness after my daughter sent me pictures of my granddaughters decorating their Christmas tree. I will miss them this Christmas but I’m already looking forward to being with them next year.

About mid-November last year my room mate Brett left the ice to take a job as an air traffic controller with the Federal Aviation Administration. I was sad to see him go but happy because it looked like I would have a room to myself for the rest of the season. The next day there was a plastic bag full of fresh bedding for the new guy moving into the room.

If you’ve ever had a room mate you know there are always issues mostly small and piddling but some VERY LARGE. I’m generally a “Glass is half full” kinda guy so I vowed to give the “Friendly New Guy” FNG a kind welcome. His name was Steven and he would be taking over our IT work. As it turned out he was younger than my son but had a friendly smile and a self deprecating sense of humor. We talked a lot in the early days, ate together often, hiked together and just enjoyed each others company.

We roomed together the rest of last year and when I decided to come back again this year I emailed him to see if he wanted to share a room again. He was glad to hear from me and said he was coming down in August to the ice and would set up our room just like last year and have it all ready by the time I arrived in early October.

I left the ice last year a couple of days before Steven did and he said they were the two most depressing days of the season. I find it’s a very interesting dynamic that develops between two people who share so much time together. The relationship doesn’t even approach what Deni and I have (DUH) but it certainly makes the time here much more interesting.

Steven is headed home today, weather permitting, and I am missing him already. I threw a little going away party for him last night at the non-smoking bar. About 25 people attended and we celebrated until almost midnight (I had to get up at 5:00 this morning for work). It was heartwarming to see so many people with a common bond get together to bed farewell to one of our own.

He will be missed. Picture of Steven next to Jammer Joe in gallery.

I ate at the 5:00 seating at Thanksgiving but came back at the 7:00 seating to visit a few friends I’ve made since I’ve been traveling to McMurdo. I was amazed to see so many friends in one place at one time. These are people I’ve worked with, talked with, eaten with, played with and shared stories with. I must have spent 30 minutes just stopping by tables to say hello and wish them Happy Thanksgiving. I feel truly blessed to have gotten to know so many of these interesting folks. As I’ve said before they are all here by choice and all have a story to tell and I am a willing listener. The many hugs, handshakes and hellos warmed my heart and they will all hold a special place in the story of my life.

By the way I know more about the mysterious Atlas. He came by our work center the other day. He works in IT for the station and came to work on one of our computers. I had a chance to speak with him briefly and found him to be gregarious, well spoken and clearly well educated which is probably why so many people stop by to visit him on his stool in the Coffee House.

About three weeks prior to Thanksgiving I was inducted into “The Bow Tie Club”. It is the brainchild of our Dentist Fleet. He wears a button down shirt and a different bow tie everyday and he decided to have several of his friends get together at Thanksgiving wearing a bow tie supplied by him. I chose a dark blue tie with long legged girls sitting in a martini glass. (Very attractive I must say). Fleet had a lady friend of his, Myrna, host the table. She did a great job with decorations and the six of us with the ties looked pretty spiffy. Of course we were the center of attention for the 5:00 seating and you know how I hate being the center of attention! We had a great time at dinner. I sat next to “Jammer Joe”. Joe is 78 years old who drives 1930 vintage buses at Glacier National Park during the summer. The “Jammer” name comes from driving the busses with the old manual transmission that you had to “jam” into gear to keep moving on the mountainous roads at Glacier National. He applied 6 times for a job here and was never called. So this year, at his own expense, he hand carried his application to Denver so they could see he was serious about coming. Joe is a retired farmer from Illinois and has a treasure trove of stories he unpacks every time you sit down with him. I asked him at one point if he will come back next year and he told me he never thinks that far ahead. He said he has learned to live in the moment and he was enjoying every moment right now. You’ll recognize Joe if you look for a slight man with a small handle bar mustache. What a character. Check out the gallery for a few pictures of the gang.

It’s Saturday here the day we celebrate Thanksgiving. They do that so people can have two days in a row off. I’m sending this from work. We are one of the few places other than food services that work today. Don’t ask me why there is not a single airplane or helicopter scheduled to fly today but what the heck I have a good book and an Ipod full of Christmas music.

Meals on Thanksgiving and Christmas are set up a little like on a cruise ship. There are 4 seatings 3, 5 and 7PM and midnight for day workers. During the week you sign up for the seating you’d like then today you line up in the hall to wait for the doors to be opened to the dining facility. Then you hope more people don’t show up than signed up or there won’t be enough seats. Kind of makes the event like a high school click though as everyone runs around asking, ”what seating are you going to”, and “who are you going to sit with?” The food service folks do it because the dining facility can’t accommodate everyone at one seating. They really do try to make it a special meal. Tablecloths are on all tables, special decorations are set and they prepare a traditional Thanksgiving meal complete with pies! I was drafted into a table of people called the bow tie club so I must learn how to tie a real bow tie between now and 5:00. I have an instruction sheet but you know how they are and I’ve never been particularly good at tying knots. I hope I don’t hang myself.

To all my friends and family and people I don’t even know who read this blog I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving and are looking forward to a great holiday season.