Well this has been an incredible time of life but all good things must come to an end and this is no exception. I was looking at the calendar Deni got me for Christmas and realized I only have 30 days left on the ice. I’m currently scheduled to leave on February 22nd. That could slip a little if Mother Nature doesn’t concur with our scheduling. The first sunset is February 20th at about 1:22 am. Sunrise is the same day at about 2:00 am. It will seem kind of funny to have twilight again after so long without it. I can tell you also that it has never rained since I’ve been here and one of the weather observers opined that it probably has never been recorded rainfall here in recent history.

Just an update. It looks like our friend, who was electrically shocked and medevaced to Christchurch is going to be okay. He has some memory loss issues that the medical folks are looking into and we hope he will return to finish out the season soon.

One other quick note last week we had several VIP’s here including the Prime Minister of New Zealand and Sir Edmund Hillary. I almost got my picture taken with Sir Edmund but at 87 he wasn’t up to climbing the stairs to where we work. He spoke to a gathering of dignitaries and I understand he still captivates an audience. I sure wish I could have been there for his speech.

I think I told you earlier that I’m a card carrying member of the Ross Island Yacht Club of Antarctica. The members tell me that because of that I’m entitled to a shower and limited use of facilities of other yacht clubs around the world. Apparently it’s a courtesy yacht clubs extend to members of other clubs. I’ll have to check into that. Also each yacht club has a “burgee” which is a pennant that represents their particular club. Last night was the last regularly scheduled meeting of the club and they passed out a club burgee to the members. It’s pretty cool. It was designed by an Argentinean sailor when the club first formed many years ago. You’ve heard me tell about the earlier explorers here “sledging” across the Antarctic. Our burgee show’s a group of sailors in harness pulling a sailboat across the snow instead of a sledge. Stop by the house some time and I’ll show it to you. We watched a video last night by 4 friends from New England who bought a 35 foot sailboat and took nine months to sail from New England down the east coast of the United States to the Bahamas and the Panama Canal then back again. It looked like a great trip. I don’t know if I should tell you this but I asked at the end of the movie if they still own the boat. He said they do but there is a “for sale” sign on it. HE says between them it’s just too expensive to keep and that they don’t sail together anymore but they remain the best of friends. So if you’re looking for a 24k fiberglass boat fully rigged let me know.

We heard there were some whales down near the ice pier where we now have open water so we headed that way after dinner tonight. The wind was blowing pretty hard and it’s a downhill walk to the pier so we made pretty good time almost to the extent that we were blown over walking down the hill. There were no whales to be seen but it was kind of fun seeing water where only ice has been before. We also stopped for a few minutes just to listen to the sound of water lapping at the ice as its being blown further and further out into the sound.

A good friend from the choir at church somehow was electrically shocked yesterday. They were concerned enough about its effect on his heart that they medevaced (medical evacuation) him to Christchurch. We’re all hoping he is okay and returns soon.

As I walked to work this morning I could see lots of open water in the turning basin (the area the big ships use to maneuver in while docking). The winds have been strong from the south the last few days which helps blow the ice out to sea. I talked to a C130 pilot yesterday who said there’s lots of whale activity in the open water and moving into the channel. Hopefully that means the sound will clear of ice this year and we may get those rides around the sound on the Coast Guard ice breaker.

Last night I attended probably the last live music event at the Coffee House. The genre was 60’s style folk music. Great time!

Today was a busy day at work and beyond the daily workout at the gerbil gym and the great conversation after dinner it was a pretty routine day. Now there’s an oddity for you. I’m just sitting here now trying to clear the morning cob webs to see if I’m forgetting to tell you anything.

Yesterday I finished the second of the two books I told you about earlier and donated them to the McMurdo Library in the names of Kim and Cyndy (last names withheld because I’m not sure they want me sending them out in the blog, you know HIPPA). Kim and Cyndy were gracious enough to allow me to make the donations and they will make two great additions to the library for all those folks staying here for the winter.