This poor pitiful picture is my first acutal sighting of penguins. If you get your magnifying glass you can see them way in the background. I hope for better later. Also added a few pictures of Ice Stock to the gallery

I awoke this morning and headed for breakfast. When I opened the door of the dorm I was greeted by a blanket of white on what for over a month had been brown dusty volcanic dirt. The snow is still coming down and the wind is blowing hard enough to actually cause some drifting. The temperature is fairly warm though so it was actually quit pleasant to walk around in.

Yesterday morning at breakfast we found out that one of our co-workers fell and broke her ankle in three places. She told me she knew she was in trouble when she could see the bottom of her foot when she landed. Double ouch! She is resting now awaiting the next flight north on Tuesday. She will need to undergo surgery (with pins and the whole works) so it looks like she won’t be back this season. Thankfully she is married to a Kiwi so she has family in New Zealand to look after her since her husband has to finish out the season here. The volcanic earth here is treacherous to walk on and you rarely make eye contact with anyone as you walk because you are studying the ground for anything that could cause you to stumble or fall. I’ve rolled my ankle several times but thankfully no damage so far.

On a happier note I experienced “Ice Stock” yesterday. Several bands played a wide range of music some good some not so good but all had a great time. The annual chili cook-off was going on as well with some tasty results. It was “chilly” yesterday so the “chili” really hit the spot. Of course I had to get the official t-shirt of the event so I could say (yes you know its coming) “been there done that got the t-shirt”. I just couldn’t help myself.

I had planned a quite New Years Eve in my room when about 8:30 one of the controllers knocked on the door and invited me to have a coffee at the coffee house. I was on call yesterday so no champagne for me. We had some great conversation which by the end of the evening was very engrossing as a Catholic, a Latter Day Saint and a Buddhist compared notes. The good news is that at the end none of us felt like we had to start a war over our differences and peace continues to reign on the continent. It’s too bad we can’t have that kind of religious tolerance everywhere in this New Year.

If you haven’t looked yet I’ve posted a couple of pictures of the LDB launch and the Swedish Icebreaker the Oden which is currently 6 miles from us breaking ice at the rate of 2 miles per day. There is still great hope here that the sound will completely clear of ice before the end of January.

Best wishes to all in the New Year.

Deni (my wife) keeps asking me if I’ve seen any actual, real live penguins yet and up until today the answer has been no. I’ve seen the occasional seal but no penguins. Alas the long wait is over I have spied and photographed my first penguins. They were small in number and stature being Adele’s but penguins none the less. I couldn’t get very close as they were out on the ice in an area we are not allowed to walk on but I was able to get a couple of long distance pictures. I believe this is just an omen of things to come and hope to get many more pictures soon.

The ice breaker has cleared about half of the channel between the open water and the McMurdo ice pier so he should reach us in the next few days. We’re all still holding out hope for a cruise around the sound after he arrives.

All the talk today is about setting up booths for the “Ice Stock” festival and chili cook-off. I can’t wait to taste some of the chili!

Well I had a couple of days off so I did what any red blooded American boy would do I went to work! Not in the Center but in the Control Tower. As far as Air Traffic Control goes I really am a “tower guy”. I like to sit there looking out the windows at the beautiful scenery and watch airplanes land and take-off. I did manage to get three airplanes in one window a couple of times but there’s really not a lot of traffic. The Center is okay but it’s inside a building with a couple of windows but you never get to see airplanes flying just the occasional helicopter if you walk over into the corner and crane your neck to see one pass by. Anyway, I had a great time and will probably go back tomorrow for more of the same.

I confirmed yesterday that the last of the Long Distance Balloons (LDB’s) was launched Christmas Eve. Oh well I guess that will have to be an adventure for another time. I know there were lots of pictures taken though so I’ll get some to include in a future blog.

Here’s something funny. Yesterday on the tables at the dining facility were small strips of paper announcing a “tell a secret” project. The idea, apparently, is to write down a secret on a piece of paper and submit it anonymously to be put up on a bulletin board with everybody else’s secrets. I’ve told you about the rumor mill here and this just seems like more fodder for the system. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to share secrets and I suspect that people will put two and two together so that they won’t be anonymous for long but who knows. It should be interesting. What do you think about that? Would you put a secret out there for everyone to read?

Christmas day was bone chilling cold and blustery. A gentle wafting snow fell all day. It was too light to stick to the ground and blew off into the Antarctic oblivion somewhere. It was the perfect day for a road trip (walk) to the greenhouse. It’s a short walk (about a city block) up the hill and into the wind but your goal looks as much like an oasis in the desert as any group of trees and pool of water can look. From the outside it looks like any other wooden building very square and unimpressive. In fact you wouldn’t know it was a greenhouse except for some vegetables painted on the outside. When you walk in you are greeted by the bright light of the grow lights and a refreshing temperature and humidity. (Temperature about 74 degrees and humidity 30 percent) I know neither of those sounds high but in light of the normal cold temps here and humidity around 5 percent they felt great. I walked around inside smelling the flowers and plants and just feeling the green. That I know of these are the only living plants growing on the entire continent. During the winter they actually harvest crops for the folks who stay here. There are no attendants the greenhouse is maintained by a group of volunteers who love their work. In addition to the plants you find an easy chair to sit in and nap or read as your body takes in the refreshing surroundings. Even better than that there are two hammocks to lie in. I found myself in one of them daydreaming and enjoying the moment (actually turned out to be a one hour nap). This place is truly refreshing for the soul and a place I will visit again.

We had our last gig as a Christmas choir today. We sang for the folks at the South Pole and anyone else in the world who could hear us on the radio frequency we were transmitting on. After our singing the “Polies” returned the favor and sang to us. It sounds funny to say it but it was a very emotional and moving time.

The last thing I did today before turning in was to go to the Coffee House to watch “Miracle on 34th Street” and “It’s a Wonderful Life”. It’s not the same as being home but it sure brought back a lot of great memories of years gone by.