Bill's 2022 Antarctic Adventure

  12-1-2022 Update on the demolition of dorm 203. It looked like this project was going to take years. I watched one day as the workers removed aluminum siding. It took 2 guys 15 minutes to remove one piece of siding. They were being very cautious. This morning they brought in a huge track hoe that could reach the top of the dorm. It had a scoop that looked like a tyrannosaurus Rex head and it went after the building like a starving dinosaur. The pictures are the result after a couple of hours of gobbling. All the remnants are loaded into shipping containers and returned to the USA for recycling. The long game is to build a huge dome over the town so most habitable spaces can be accessed without ever going outside. This is the biggest facelift ever undertaken here but, in the end, it reduces the footprint of McMurdo. I’m also sending along a picture of my work area in town. My work time is split equally between the Center and the Control Tower. I like the Tower much more. The view from

  11-30-2020   Did you just say, “shorts weather”? Well, it is here today. If this wasn’t a workday, I’d have been on a long hike on a path called “arrival heights”. It’s so named because of its high elevation and spectacular view of ships coming and going to McMurdo. No ships yet though, still too much ice but the ice breaker is on the way and the Orcas are getting antsy. Update on the tooth, all good, and I’m very happy. I am feeling very energized today and happy in general. Days like these are great!

  OUCH!! I was brushing my teeth this morning, normal so far, and then a piece of a tooth broke off, definitely not normal. The good news is no pain ensued but there was definitely a sharp edge that the back of my tongue was rubbing on. I called the medical clinic, and they got me right in. The dentist (an emergency room dental PA) said I’d broken off about a quarter of a lower wisdom tooth. My options were to let him rebuild the tooth or fly to Christchurch for treatment in a dental clinic. After some discussion I was convinced that having it repaired here was my best option, so I gave Mike the go-ahead. It was tricky because of its location, and I had to assist a couple of times getting my cheek out of the way. We even called in a flight nurse (who was from Eden Prairie, Minnesota) to work the suction and keep my tongue out of the way. I know, I know cut to the chase already! The procedure was a success and I’m confident I won’t need to leave the Ice before my time is due. Mike did s

  1-28-2020 Herbie came to visit Sunday. Both of our airports experienced weather condition 1 on Sunday. For condition 1 to exist you must have winds greater than 55 knots, or wind chill colder than -100 F or visibility less than 100 feet. I’m happy to report of the 3 we did not have -100 degrees! We did however have the other two. The most amazing part of it all is that we had very benign conditions in town. It’s a reminder to all of us here how quickly the weather can change and how arbitrary it can be where and when it hits. Ross Sound Artifacts At lunch today I had the pleasure of listening to an NSF (National Science Foundation) representative. In a former life he was one of our C-130 pilots. He was telling me that both Williams Field and Phoenix Field, our two airports, had to be moved last year because the snow had gotten “dirty”. Dirty snow attracts more heat and causes the runway surfaces to become unstable for use. Ah, the things you must deal with in Antarctica! I’m really h

  11-27-2020 Maple Syrup…One of the things you won’t find in Antarctica are trees or for that matter plants of any kind so bear with me on this blog entry. One of my work companions and fellow Minnesotan, Chris, harvests hundreds of gallons of maple sap every year. Forgive my ignorance but I thought you just drilled a hole in a Maple tree, stuck in a wooden faucet and drained out maple syrup. Oh, I can hear you chuckling now!  The topic came up at the dinner table tonight when I told Chris I always had a Belgian waffle every Sunday morning at brunch. He said he loved waffles but couldn’t stand the syrup they provided here. He then talked me through how he taps maple trees and the process involved in the making of real maple syrup. Then we talked about you tube do-it-yourself videos and we suggested he produce a you tube video describing the process of syrup manufacture. He just smiled. ( he does a lot of that!) On another unrelated subject I watched an interesting show on the developme

  11-26-2022                                                        Family, friends and Thanksgiving Dinner. It’s                          Saturday after Thanksgiving here but it’s the day of the   “Great Thanksgiving Meal”. This event has been going on for longer than I have been here. It’s the reason some people come here, and it never fails to impress. It’s the same comfort food you eat with your family and friends with a twist, we are all working in Antarctica.  My family at home are always taking pictures of meals they like so I’m including a picture of my meal today. I didn’t go to breakfast or lunch today. I needed to save up room and I used all the room I saved.  We are within a few days of the half-way point here and some of our new friends and coworkers are already headed home. Most for routine rotation for full timers who work in South Carolina.  One of the interesting twists on the dinner is that volunteers work in the galley so the people who normally work there can enjoy

  11-25-2022   Imagine leaving St. Louis in the early 1800’s on your way west in a covered wagon. The arduous trek took months through territories infrequently traveled with danger at every turn. Such is the life of the “traverse” crew in Antarctica. Essentially, they form a wagon train of sleds loaded with fuel, supplies and every variety of goods necessary for life at the South Pole. In the past the only real way to get anything to the Pole was by air. The distance and the terrain seemed to rule out any other means of transportation.  Even now, after several years, the traverse is still dangerous. The first traverse of the year has scouts, like the wagon train had, who go ahead looking for the best trail across the tundra. Instead of horses they use snowmobiles. They are a hardy and adventurous group. The possibility of being gobbled up by a crevasse is a daily concern. They literally plant flags along the route they scout for the vehicles behind to follow. They camp every night, jus

  11-24-2022   I just looked at the date and it reminded me that Christmas is only a month away. In accordance with my daughter’s timeline, I started listening to Christmas music today. I always look forward to that and I’m always ready to stop right after Christmas. I’m so impressed by the creativity of people here. I enjoyed the artwork on a recycle bin. Just after Thanksgiving there will be a craft show. The variety of things for sale is astounding. The weather folks told us today to get ready for a “mini” Herbie. A Herbie is akin to a hurricane. We’re supposed to have wind gusts around 60 mph. Add blowing snow and you can easily get whiteout conditions. When that happens they set “condition 2” on the base and pretty much everyone stays inside their rooms until we get the all clear. I have a small stash of food in our refrigerator to tide me over. You just don’t want to be outside during a Herbie. I met a very nice scientist last night at a science lecture. She was there with severa

  11-23-2022 I thought you might like to see what I had for pre-thanksgiving dinner. Peas and carrots, wild rice, Honey basted chicken, boiled shrimp and the best part apple crisp.   As I was walking on the treadmill today after work my view was the Transantarctic Mountain Range. The snow-covered peaks are impressive but the rivers of ice and snow that fill the low areas are just majestic.   I’m off to a science lecture in just a few minutes so I’m a little brief today. The whole station population works Thanksgiving Day, but we get Saturday and Sunday off this week. Two days in a row sounds great! I see a long hike it my near future and it looks like the weather is going to cooperate.    Being away from family and friends is always difficult on holidays but everyone tries to make it the best holiday it can be. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

  11-20-2022   I see things through different eyes. As I was climbing to arrival heights this afternoon, I saw things I haven’t taken the time to see before. I saw a baby skua feather drifting on the wind, and it caught my attention. Imagine something only an inch long and yet so beautiful in its simplicity. On a steep part of the trail, I saw the footholds of those who had passed before me and found that following in their footsteps was easier than carving my own path. I saw large rocks on the trail that I stepped over in the past. Now I bend over and move them off the path to help the people who will follow me. I saw stark lava flows with their long frozen fingers and ragged edges and felt as though I was alone on Mars. My eyes are the same, but life has changed what I see and how I see it.   A long-range plan here at McMurdo is to reduce our footprint. Part of that plan involves tearing down older dorms. The dorm next to me is on the chopping block this year. I plan to take weekly p

  11-19-2022   You’ve got mail! No, wait a minute, I’ve got mail and I’m very happy.  It only took 7 weeks, and I am halfway around the world, but it got to me non the less. Getting mail here is akin to when you were in the service on foreign assignment. You always listened for your name at mail call and most of the time were disappointed when someone else’s name was always called and not yours.    I’m seeing more and more seals everyday as they arrive for summer feeding and breeding. The seals love it, and the orcas can’t wait to join them on the ice.   We have an Italian military C-130 coming in two to three times per week. The flight crews are very friendly, and we have a great relationship with them and its one we try to cultivate. If you like handsome men, they’re not hard on the eyes. I’m including a picture of one today. What do you think?   Last item on the agenda today is where we wash our hands before every meal. Do you recognize it from your youth? I know I do.

  11-18-2022   Bad news for the seals! The orcas are in the house. I was talking to a helicopter today and I overheard a conversation with their operations office. He told them he spotted 10-20 orcas at the ice edge about 5 miles from Williams Field airport. One of the things the scientists keep a record of is when the orcas show up every year. This is a rather early sighting. Normally they show up around the time the ice breaker arrives to open the channel for shipping. I think they literally hear the ice breakers engine and the sound of the ice being crushed. They herd behind the ice breaker and follow it into the sound in search of seals. It’s a fascinating annual event. The skua’s are in full nesting mode. It won’t be long before we have yellow tennis ball sized feather puffs in rock nests. It’s interesting how nature has adapted to life in these harsh conditions.

  11-17-20222 They have an “Ice Tube” here this year. It’s a big length of PVC that extends through the ice into the sound near McMurdo. It has rung ladder steps to help get in and out. It sounds terribly claustrophobic to me, so I won’t be descending the tube even though I suspect the view under the ice is incredible. Apparently, they put no size restrictions on who can go into the tube. The tube takes care of that all on its own. Imagine climbing vertically into an MRI machine. Three people got stuck in it today and had to be extricated by the fire department. Apparently, the steps are so far apart that it’s hard to bend your knee enough to reach the next step. Because of that you must do a pull-up to get from step to step. How many pull ups can you do? What could possibly go wrong with this idea? It might be fun just to go watch the circus!

  11-16-2022 My view at the Control Tower Today is my last day in the tower for a couple of weeks. I’ll be in town looking at a bank of computers instead of looking at the Royal Society Mountains, Mt Erebus, Mt Terror and the Ross Glacier that extends as far as the eye can see, flat as the ocean and white as snow (oh yeah, it is snow). Sorry I’m a dad so I get to drop dad jokes every now and then. We’re about midway through the season and I’m looking forward to listening to Christmas music Deni downloaded some for me before I left. I know it’s probably all over the radio right now, but it brightens up the season.  We have a restroom facility outside the tower kind of like what you’d run into at a campground except there is no running source of water. What we do have is a large (about the size of a dump truck bed) warmer outside of the building. Every night a front-end loader dumps snow into the warmer. The warmer performs its magic and just like that we have a source of water for the r

  11-15-2022 For some unknown reason I was feeling a little melancholy today. The thought entered my head that days are flying swiftly away, and this may very well be the last time I ever work as an air traffic controller. I’ve been truly blessed in my life to have found an occupation that I not only liked but was good at. But as I always say, “never say never”. Maybe it’s the melting snow that made me think of the time passing so swiftly. When I was a kid, we loved the spring melt because we had all kinds of mud puddles to play in. Before things started melting though I was able to capture pictures of some ice crystals. I hope you can blow the pictures up because the closer you look the more fascinating they become. A dear friend of mine just entered hospice. It’s another reminder that life is short and to enjoy every minute of it in any way you can.

  11-14-2022 I saw two crates sitting outside a building near where I work. They have been sitting there for at least two weeks in sub-zero weather. I thought the stickers on the outside were kind of funny! What do you think? I forgot to tell you the last Chaplin we had here was Ron Faith, his replacement, the catholic priest is John Love. You can’t make this stuff up!! Both are really nice men. I couldn’t help myself, so I asked, “Brother Love’s traveling salvation show” I think he’s heard it many times before, but he took it in good humor. Surely our next Chaplin won’t be Rev. Hope. Okay, okay I’ll stop. SKUA Nesting Did I tell you I’ve already seen Skua’s nesting. No penguins yet but I found a nice picture of one until I can get the real thing. Blow this up and look at the ice crystals.

  11-13-2022 Scientist friends can you help me with this; The sun stays at the same elevation above the horizon all day this time of year. I see that visually with my eyes not using an instrument. The interesting thing is in the evening about 7:00 the temperature starts to fall and continues to fall throughout the night. In the morning the temperature begins to rise. It’s a mystery to me why that happens. We now have a Catholic Priest on station. He will be here for the next 3 weeks then he returns to his home parish in Oxnard, CA. Very nice man. He sat with me at brunch, and we had a really nice conversation. I’ve included some pictures of plaques inside the Chapel. After lunch I went back to my room to take a nap. On the evening shifts I don’t get to bed until real midnight (as opposed to 9:00 pm midnight in the villages). My natural body clock gets me up at 6:00 am so after 6 days I’m lacking a little in sleep. Sunday is always a nice day of rest.

  11-12-2022 Well, I did something today I’ve never done before in Antarctica…I got a drivers license! Well to be honest I didn’t actually get a license, but I did a road exam and I’m now allowed to drive one of our maintenance vans from town to the tower. Most of the drive is on a glacier that has groomed snow. Even so, it’s a pretty bumpy ride. I spent lots of time today doing work related activities, so I know I’ll sleep well tonight. I think I’m starting to get the best of the computer also. As my wife will tell you I am sorely lacking in computer skills.  Tomorrow is Sunday here and I always look forward to the brunch they serve. I found a few more stickers but I’m not really sure what they mean. I also found a flyer for a class on Project Management. I find that interesting and strange at the same time.

  11-11-2021 Just a quick note yesterday was the Marine Corps birthday and today as you know is Veterans Day. Just take a moment to remember all the men and women who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Thank a veteran if you see one. Stickers…all over the base you find stickers people have left over the years to leave a little piece of themselves behind when they leave the Ice. I’ve included a few I’ve seen recently and will post more as I come across them. Some are a little racy and I’m not sure they will get by the censor. I also found a crate  which  had been sitting outside for  several  days. I found the stickers on the crates interesting also. A week or so ago I saw an older man (and I use the term loosely) sitting alone in the dining facility. I saw him again a few days later and each time I saw him I felt more certain that I knew him. I finally went up to him and told him he looked so familiar to me did I look familiar to him? He said no so I let it go. Today I saw h

  11-10-2022 Do we have bikes in Antarctica? We didn’t before but we do now. As you can see, they are the fat tire variety that you see on beaches. They are very heavy, so you get lots of exercise riding them. It’s been a little too chilly to ride yet but they will be heavily used in December when the weather warms up (relatively speaking).   People up north can relate to this item. Everywhere you go there are plugs for your vehicle. As far as I know none of our vehicles are hybrid nor all electric. Maybe someday. For now, we’re just using the plugs to keep the engines warm.    Just a quick weather update. Today was stunningly pretty and even though the temperature never got above zero degrees fahrenheit the wind laid down and it was very pleasant out walking around. (is that a run on sentence or what?)By the way, all the  beautiful snow we had yesterday is gone. Oh well, that’s Mother Nature!

  11-9-2022 Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. When I went outside this morning for breakfast the normally grungy brown lava rock of the parking lot was blanketed in fresh white fluffy snow. The snow was still gently wafting to the ground, and it reminded me of my childhood days in Minnesota. So, what’s the big deal? Snow, Antarctica, they go together, right? Not so fast my friend! Remember Antarctica is a very arid continent. Our humidity is so low that we are  constantly shocking ourselves when touching anything metal.  You’ve felt it before, the shocking tingle of static electricity pulsing through your fingers. Although snowfall doesn’t happen often here it is still a beautiful sight. Memories of days gone by. I stopped by what was originally the officers club when the U. S. Navy occupied McMurdo. When I came to McMurdo in 2006 it had been converted to a coffee house. It was a warm inviting place to spend time drinking warm brews, playing cribbage with friends and plugging int

  11-8-2022 We have a rationing system in the little store for all alcohol, flavored waters and sodas. You get 3 points per week and once you’ve used them, you’re done until Sunday when you get 3 more points. It’s not so much a supply issue as it is they don’t want you over-imbibing.   I thought I’d share with you some pictures from my shuttle bus stop. When I work at the tower, I ride a shuttle in both directions. The bus stop is known as “Derelict Junction”. I’m not really sure why but it’s been like that ever since I first came here in 2006. When the weather is super cold, relatively speaking, we can use the orange shelter. It has a door like an old-fashioned refrigerator. When you go inside you can use the voice box to call for help if the weather turns bad. Good luck with that!! The shuttle drivers are very friendly and do their best to get to know everyone. My first trip here I met a guy everyone called “shuttle Bill”. I’ve heard he retired a couple of years ago. He was so well l