Lost Mitten?!?!?

1-11-2023 Super cool….I heard through the grapevine that penguins had been sighted again last night at Hut Point so after work today I went in search of the elusive birds. Unfortunately, they were gone by the time I got there but one of my work associates had really good pictures of them. It was a group of 6 young males out wondering around. That’s not the super cool thing though. After I unsuccessfully looked for penguins I walked around, off the beaten path near the Hut. As I was headed home, I looked down in what had been a puddle. Normally the puddle would remain all season and freeze over in the winter. We’ve had three days of bright sun and warm temperatures and the pond had completely dried up. In the dried mud I spotted something and on closer examination realized it was a mitten a really, really old mitten. The palm was in very bad condition and had obviously been worn out. I picked it up not knowing what to do with it, so I headed over to the Hut and intended to leave it outside where other artifacts were laying. As I approached the hut, I met a Kiwi gentleman and I showed him the mitten. He became quite excited and asked if I could show him where I found it. The location was a short distance away and after showing him where I found it, he replaced it and placed a rock on it to hold it in place. Then he turned around and spotted the mate covered in mud and barely identifiable. He then pulled out a notebook and asked for my name. I was worried I might be in trouble for wandering around off the path and disturbing the mitten. Turns out the Kiwi’s keep the structure of the Hut intact, and he said they had an archeologist on the team this year. He then went on to explain that if the archeologist determines the mittens are a significant archeological find that I will be credited with the find (which is why he took my name) He asked if he could reach me at McMurdo and I told him he could. At the very least they will make it into a museum of McMurdo artifacts. How cool is that?

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