Every year the galley staff invites residents of McMurdo into the kitchen to create ginger bread houses. It’s always a treat to see what they come up with. Check out the gallery for a couple of pictures.

I just came back from the Sunday science lecture. The presenter was David Ainley who has been studying Adelie Penguins for years. He talked a little about global climate change and the affect it is having on the Antarctic and then talked about a web page you can visit to find out more on the subject. It is www.penguinscience.com. He then showed an hour long DVD they have produced. It is truly fascinating and can be ordered from the web site. The DVD is free but he says there is a shipping charge of $10 for the first and $5 for any subsequent DVD’s ordered. It is absolutely fascinating and is targeted at middle school education level. I can highly recommend it to my friends at St Patrick’s school and anyone else who is interested in penguins and global climate change.

Tuesday night we had the first meeting of the Christmas Choir. Last year we had about eight people who participated. In anticipation of another low turn-out I unabashedly went around recruiting singers for this year’s group. I’m happy to report that we had 30 people show up for the first practice. A few more, who were unable to attend for various reasons, well join us for the next rehearsal.

What very well could have been a cacophonous blending of voices actually turned out to be a very harmonious blending of good and bad singers, women and men all singing well known Christmas songs.

We will eventually perform for the station Christmas Party, Midnight Mass, the Christmas Eve Protestant service as well as singing at Scott Base for the Kiwis and a special performance for all the cooks, bakers and bottle washers at their Christmas meals. Finally we will sing via high frequency radio to the folks at the South Pole on Christmas day.

After work today I went for a kike to the top of a thousand foot hill called Arrival Heights. I started to bring my IPOD to listen to Christmas music but remembered from last year how quiet and peaceful it is up there so I left it behind.

The trail begins at Hut Point, a small bump out in the coastline on which sits one of the early explorer’s base huts. The ice around the point has started to melt and a few seals have slugged their way onto the ice for a little mid-summer sun bathing. It seems to be a very restful, playful time of year for them.

On the initial part of the hike I passed a pair of Skua’s. One of them was sitting on an egg in a rock nest and the other was standing guard nearby to fend off wayward hikers like me.

The remainder of the trail, which takes about an hour to traverse, is quit vertical going from sea level to one thousand feet in a fairly short distance. I passed another hiker about midway up who had stopped to sit on an out cropping of rock to rest and take in the view. We exchanged a few words about the great weather (The temperature was +40F, clear and sunny) and the view and I continued on my way.

At the summit is a sign advising you not to continue any further or risk violating the Antarctic Treaty. The penalty for said violation is being voted off the island. Not wanting to risk that I ventured no further on the path.

I did, however, walk to the edge of the precipice. The sound of silence here is thunderous in its absolute stillness. To say you can hear a pin drop is an understatement. You can literally hear your own heart beating. The view here is equally breathtaking. The visibility was more than a hundred miles. It’s the only place on earth I’ve ever been where there isn’t a trace of haze, smog, smoke or any of a thousand other things that gunk up our air other places. The Royal Society Mountain Range appeared to be painted on a pallet of sky blue (go figure). The peace and serenity of this place at this time is refreshing to the soul.

Have I told you that it is warming up here? The last two days the high has been +32F with very little wind. It is interesting to see people walking around in short sleeve shirts. We even leave the door to the gym open when we work out. I’ve been watching your weather there in the States and it looks like yours is way worse than ours right now. Of course we are in the middle of summer. Get that Christmas shopping finished, you’re running out of time.