I had breakfast with one of the weather observers who was coming off of a midnight shift. Last night he said the wind gusted up to 38 knots and the temperature with wind chill dropped down to -62F. Boy was I glad I was snuggled up in my bed. I did think about one of the tech guys who is out at happy camper school. I hope he brought all of his ECW gear!

As I walked, shivering, to work this morning I was looking out over the ice runway and all the buildings out there. It was a very surreal view because all of the buildings were shrouded by a thin layer of ice fog and appeared to be floating on a cloud. The base of Mt. Discovery’s base was also shrouded and gave a fantastic view. I wanted to stop to take a few pictures but it was just too darn cold.

There is a generic illness down here that we fondly refer to as “the crud”. It’s like most winter illnesses everywhere else but seems to be especially acute here. Last night as I was leaving work I thought I felt that little tickle you get in the back of your throat at the onset of the illness. I went back to my room got in bed took a couple of packets of “Emergen-C” to bolster my vitamin c level and didn’t get up until this morning. I don’t have the tickle this morning so keep your fingers crossed for me.

Monday morning and it is snowing. Hard! The C-17 has cancelled for a maintenance problem and a New Zealand C-130 (Kiwi) also canceled. The helicopters won’t fly because of the weather so it looks like we will do a little classroom training today.

The snow here is always a powdery consistency because of the dry air so it blows around and drifts up against anything it can find. It kind of feels like a Christmas morning here.

Last night we had the first science lecture of the year. The lead researcher for the emperor penguins gave us some great information on how they set up the “penguin farm” and how they work with the penguins to attach cameras and other types of monitors to them. He said normally they catch the first few Emperors. After that other Emperors see the group and wander down to see what’s going on. The researchers herd them into the corral and they then become part of the research group. They are such curious birds and have no fear of people at all. One of the amazing facts to me is that they have recorded dives down to 5oo meters (over 1500 feet). When they dive most of the oxygen in their bodies (47%) is stored in their muscle tissue as opposed to their lungs like you and me. This research has application to humans in the treatment of heart attack and stroke victims as well as extending the length of time transplant organs can be stored before they are implanted, fascinating.

Well I went to the Coffee House last night for the first live music of the season. We started out with an acoustical guitar set which included several songs about live on the ice. This was followed by a group who sang several original songs about vehicles on the ice. It was roll around on the floor funny. Among the instruments the played were the acoustic guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, tuba, accordion, mandolin and banjo. The place was packed and the floor in the coatroom was packed from floor to ceiling with “big reds”. For those of you new to the blog “big red” is the goose down filled parka we are all issued when we head down here. They all look alike so we have a Velcro name tag on each coat to help us sort out the mess.

Sunday morning was time for a trip to the chapel for morning Mass. When I arrived the place was frigid inside. Sometime during the night the heating system had broken and the repair guys were on the job fixing it. Happily they were able to fix it but the temperature never really recovered before Mass was over. Father John took it all in stride and let everyone wear their big reds.

After church it was up to the dining facility for Sunday morning brunch. It’s always a treat. My favorite is a fresh made waffle with blueberries and whipped cream along with a pecan/caramel sticky roll. Freshies (fresh fruit and vegetables) came in on the C-17 yesterday but were no where in site this morning. They must be saving them for the week ahead.

On the mundane side I had to do a little laundry today. They do provide detergent and bleach and plenty of washers and dryers are available for use so there is usually no wait to get a machine. I think porter house steaks are on the menu tonight so I’m going to head over that way now.

Did I tell you we’re having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave (if you’re old enough a tune may be going through your mind at this point). When I arrived the temperature was about -20 F. Two days later the temperature shot up to -1F and the next day it zoomed to +5F. Well I can tell you I was out walking around in my gym shorts! (Just between the dorm and the gym across the parking lot). That was just Mother Nature’s way of sucking us in. Today the temperature is -18F (-45) with the wind chill, burrrrrr. The great thing about a high wind is that it stirs up the snow and gives the appearance of tiny diamonds floating in the sky. By the way the temperature at the South Pole today with wind chill was -87F.

Tonight is Italian night at the dining facility (every Saturday night) and it’s the only night you can bring alcohol to the meal. A limited selection of wine is available in the store and it makes the evening meal a little nicer with a glass of wine.

After dinner tonight a bunch of us are heading over to the coffee house. Tonight there will be some kind of live easy listening music presented by one of our colleagues. I am still blown away by the many talents people here have in addition to their skills required for their “day jobs”.

More new folks arrived today on the C-17 adding to our town’s population. At its peak we will have around 1200 people here in McMurdo.

Before I start I want to welcome a new group of people to the blog this year. They are the students and teachers at St. Patrick’s School in Phenix City Alabama. I had a chance to stop by their school to talk with them before I came down. They had some great questions for me. If you think of any more questions you would like answered just send them in a reply to the blog and I will do my best to answer them.

One other quick note. I am now an official lifetime member of the “Old Antarctic Explorers Association” which oddly enough has their worldwide headquarters in Pensacola, Florida. They have invited me to speak at one of their meetings when I return from the ice.

The trip down this year was fairly uneventful if you consider sitting in a coach seat for thirteen and a half hours uneventful. You can only move your body in so many ways to try to get comfortable. I think I even invented a couple of new moves! I’m still paying for that! Of course my suitcase didn’t make it with me either but on the positive side that meant I didn’t have to pick it up drag it through customs and on to the hotel. The good people at the airlines took care of all that for me and, more importantly, they returned it to me BEFORE I got on the plane to McMurdo.

I got a chance to go into downtown Christchurch this year. It is a really lovely old city with great charm. The people are as warm and helpful as any I’ve ever met. Even the bus driver who took me back to the hotel shared some of his interesting life stories with me and as I got off the bus he said, “If you ever need a bus driver down there I’m available”. The weather in Christchurch was also wonderful again this year. I’ve really been blessed the two years I’ve come down as this great weather is not typical in early spring. Of course everything is fully in bloom filling the air with intriguing and wonderful smells for the nose and a magnificent pallet of colors for the eyes. Life certainly is good.

The trip from Christchurch to McMurdo was long but restful. I watched the faces of many of my fellow passengers and enjoyed their many expressions of anxiety, expectation, happiness and just plain excitement and the beginning of this great adventure in their lives.

We were greeted by a great gust of frigid wind when the airplanes door opened on the ice runway. We were all bundled up in our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear and still felt the wind cut into our faces. It was just Mother Nature’s way of welcoming us. As we exited the airplane we were also greeted by the magnificent vista of the Royal Society Mountains. I was met planeside by one of our maintenance techs who took me directly to the control tower so I could handle the departure of the C-17 (the airplane we came in on). Talk about hitting the ground running! This year we have a whole new cadre of seasonal controllers so there will be a lot of training going on in the near future.

One last quick note before I close this long opening blog, I am scheduled for Happy Camper School October 16th and 17th. For those of you who weren’t with me last year Happy Camper School is a course in extreme cold weather survival techniques. You have a four hour class session and then are taken out into the tundra where you practice what you’ve learned. Then the instructor bids you a fond adieu and leaves you alone for the night to fend for yourself. Sounds like fun huh? It was one of the things I wanted to do last year but didn’t get to do. It along with a trip to the South Pole were my two goals coming down this year. I’m very excited!

Well that’s it for now. Stay tuned. I think we’re in for a great ride!