After eight straight days of snow and clouds the sun shone brightly above us this morning and was I ever glad to see it. I think cabin fever was setting in. Today after work I plan to go hiking (I hope the sun is still out then). The weather was so bad here yesterday afternoon that two of our C-130’s had to divert back to the South Pole and remained there overnight. I can’t ever remember that happening. They don’t even shut the C130’s down for an hour when they offload because of the cold temperatures and the likelihood of problems with the hydraulics when they try to restart them. They are scheduled to return this morning early so we’ll wait to see how they do.

I hope you all had a safe and happy New Years Eve. I know I’m looking forward to a terrific New Year.

Well it’s 2008 here and snowing like crazy. We are scheduled for a full flying day although it doesn’t appear that Mother Nature plans to cooperate. Only about 49 days left in the season for me and now is the time when it starts going by really quickly. I have lots of stuff planned when I return but for now I plan to savor every moment until I board the C-17 for the return flight to reality.

We have the same problem here with scheduled out door events that everyone else in the world does and that is, will Mother Nature cooperate with the event. In this case the answer was a resounding NO!! I awoke yesterday morning to a blizzard in progress. The wind wasn’t gusting but we did have about 4 inches of snow on the ground and there was just enough wind to drift it up pretty good around buildings. Since this was the only day available for Ice Stock the show went on as scheduled.

The show opened with two of the galley guys, Adam and Tyler, doing an acappella version of the national anthem (Of the United States) just wanted to be clear on that. They did a fantastic job. There were about ten bands scheduled to perform, mostly heavy metal rock and roll. The only band I was really interested in hearing was a group that played Bluegrass Music. They didn’t disappoint. The music was lively, told a story, sometimes funny and had a toe tapping beat (which was good because you needed to do something to stay warm).

After listening to the blue grass for a while I went from booth to booth (8) who were participating in the chili cooking contest. The first booth I went to was the air traffic control/navaids maintenance group. They had two huge pots of chili cooking. I asked for a cup of the milder of the two. All I can say if this is mild I must have been eating bland all my life. It was pretty tasty but it bit back when I bit into it. The after taste was even stronger than the initial heat. My lips are still stinging a little this morning. Some would say that is the sign of good chili but not in my book. I’ll stick with mom’s original recipe. I tried some that was made with venison and some that didn’t resemble chili in any form or fashion (it was vegetarian and didn’t have beans or meat) it kinda looked like vegetable soup (and tasted like it as well). The firemen had some good chili, but I expected them to, seems like they are always cooking up something tasty. I think the judging must have been political though because the air traffic chili came in last behind the vegetable soup stuff (now that’s just not fair).

After eating chili and listening to blue grass I abandoned the festival in favor of a hot shower and viewing some football. What a day.

Look for a couple of pics in the gallery

I don’t want you to think I have forgotten about you these last couple of weeks. I know the blog messages haven’t been up to the usual standard. Things here have settled into a very predictable routine and because of the holidays, with the exception of the Christmas Party, there isn’t too much going on. After the first of the year things will begin to happen again as new scientists arrive and the ice breaker Oden and the ships begin to pull into port. The penguins and whales show up at the same time so stay tuned for more. In the mean time have a Happy New Year!

When I came out of the dorm this morning the ground was covered by a two inch blanket of soft white snow. This is in stark contrast to the dark gray brown of the volcanic ground this time of year. The temperature was warm and the wind was calm, also very unusual for the last several days. This certainly has been a different weather year for me. As the New Year approaches I find myself anticipating my February 19th departure date. I’m looking forward to seeing Deni, the kids (big) and the grandchildren (small). I’ve also scheduled a week of golf with my cousin Jim and some of his friends.