First, check this out - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39159500/from/toolbar A week ago, someone had to be flown out due to illness. Apparently it was bigger news on the outside than here. Some people didn't even know it was happening. Many people, including me, got emails asking about it. I read the on-line article about it. WOW! It was windy, but I didn't know we had a blizzard. Nor did I realize that there was just a brief window of daylight. I thought it was light at 6 when I go to breakfast. I swore it was light out at 9 on Saturday night. Unless a lot of people were hiding really, REALLY well, there were only 198 of us over the winter. Whoever wrote that article could make a fortune writing fiction. . . last week's flight wasn't difficult. The first seven Winfly flights a month earlier, now those were difficult. It was the first time pilots wearing night vision goggles landed at McMurdo with passengers. The first flight out carried a fellow with appendicitis. There wasn't any real daylight . . . but that was then. Now . . .

This was taken about 2 PM on Sept. 5. The shadows have moved back a lot since then. Winfly occurred and there are 520-some souls on station. They brought fresh fruits and vegetables which were great while they lasted. They also brought the crud. It's not great and it's lasting much longer. Nothing serious, I just hope I get over it before I leave.

The Southern Bar, a 24/7 bring-your-own-drinks lounge all winter long. A great place after work at the end of the week. My birthday was celebrated with the re-opening of the Southern Bar as, well, a regular bar. No longer BYO. Not that it cost me anything that night. I'm not sure how many whiskeys I had, but it ended with a glass of Jose Cuervo. About the time it hit my stomach, I realized what it was. A beer chaser got rid of the taste and I left before I damaged too many brain cells. And - no, there are no photos, no incriminating evidence . . . not that there was anything incriminating going on . . . that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Condition 2. This was about 8 AM and the sun WAS up!

Our weather during Winfly has been some of the worst we've experienced all year. Certainly more snow than the whole rest of the winter. If you want a good idea of what conditions can get to, go to this youtube link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz2SeEzxMuE&feature=related This Thursday, the 23rd, the first 'summer' flights begin arriving. Even more importantly, we winterovers begin leaving. A few dozen left during Winfly and now the rest of us will. It's definitely time to go. You have to stay up very late or get up way too early to see the Southern Cross constellation. The novelty of seeing the sun has worn off. Several weeks ago, before the sun topped the ridge to shine on town, I walked out to Hut Point to peak 'around the corner'. Didn't even think about looking directly at it, but I remembered pretty quick. . . .

It's too crowded. Someone is sitting in 'my seat' in the galley at break. Someone is hanging their coat on 'my hook'. There are lines. I'm almost out of decent beer, two-ply tp and whiskey. There are holes in my long johns and shirts, in most of my socks. For some of us, it's been over a year already, almost 13 months. The other day someone said they would like to go to sleep and wake up when it was time to go. I understand the feeling. Three weeks from now I will be arriving in Christchurch. While I wrote this, I went under 500 hours to go. We have computer programs to keep track of such things.

Having said that . . . I signed a job offer to return next winter, Feb. through Sept. There are some really great people down here, a number of them good friends. It would be fun to come back as a town electrician. I'll have to see exactly what I get offered.

The United States Antarctic Program. The first time you come for the adventure. The second time is for money. The third time is because your friends are here. After that it's because you don't fit anywhere else. This was my fourth trip. I've spent over three years of my life on the Ice. I believe I qualify as an OAE, Old Antarctic Explorer.

As to my trip back, first stop, about a week in Christchurch to take care of a little business and relax. You may have heard about the earthquake there. It didn't have much affect, not on the company employees, company facilities nor any of the places we generally stay. I plan to eat lots of fresh vegetables and drink some tap beer. Or was it eat some fresh vegetables and . . . Then it's off to Bali for a little over two weeks. So far I have the first seven days scheduled, six of them at a dive resort. I've got some ideas about other things to do, but will wait until I've talked with other people there. After that it's a few days in Sydney, with a trip to the fish market for mud bugs and another to the Opera House for the Symphony. Who knows what else. Then home.

I'll have my computer until I leave, but I'm not packing it with me on my travels. I've got enough just hauling my dive gear around. So if you would, hold all those great jokes, forwards and other stuff until I get back to the States. I'll see you folks in PA after Nov.9.

And to everyone else - see ya whenever

Phil

Here comes the sun . . .

"Phil! The sun's coming back!" That was from a young lady on the crew a couple weeks ago. I'm sure everyone knew the sun would return, but now it's a near-constant topic of conversation. For those who just experienced their first Antarctic winter, it's a thing of wonder and relief. The end is near. For the rest of us - it's a thing of wonder and relief. The end is near. We just knew it was coming.

This photo was taken Saturday, July 24, about 1:30 PM. The photo at the very bottom was taken the following Monday. It might not look much different to you, but to those of us experiencing 'the sun coming back', it's definitely noticable.

Since the Mid-winter celebration, we've had a number of station-wide events. The 4th of July celebration was a great success. The heavy shop, scene of many big celebrations, was done up like a county fair. Pie toss, cotton candy and funnelcakes, bean bag toss, games of chance . . . an auction to raise funds for our end-of-season celebration was a huge success.

All sorts of things were donated to auction off. Paintings, massages, guitar lessons, opportunities to ride some of the odder sno-cat-like equipment, old six packs of Bud and Miller High Life - the store hasn't sold those brands in a while apparently. A five pound bag of pistachios went for $70.

So did a six-pack of two-ply toilet paper. Maybe you have to be here to appreciate such things. The company supplied product is referred to as John Wayne toilet paper - rough and tough and doesn't take shit . . .

Apparently the station manager doesn't entirely understand winterover people. She volunteered - before the auction - to match the total raised and donate it to charity. The total raised from the auction was almost $6,000. Last report, she was still going to do it.

Two weeks later we had our next-to-last, two-day weekend and the final, championship-of-the-station horseshoe tournament. It was composed primarily of people who placed in the top three teams in past tournaments. Having come in both first and third, I was in the competition - briefly. I could blame it on the cold - people were standing around in their big red parkas and a huge space heater was running - but the truth is, neither my partner nor I were on that day. We were out in two matches.

Last weekend was the Antarctic 48 hour film festival. Participants from countries at stations around the continent were given 48 hours to produce a video no more than 5 minutes long. They had to inclue five elements; a dry mop, mouthwash, the line "Has anyone seen my chicken?", a grumpy deisel mechanic and an alarm siren/signal. There were videos without these elements, but they weren't in the competition. There were 40-some entries. I made it through the first two hours. I've seen many of the rest on the station computer network. Some are very good, funny, some very artistic and not a few just plain strange, but consider the requirements . . . Next weekend will be very busy. If I'm fortunate, I will be moving to another dorm. Fortunate because if I move, I'll get a room to myself for the remainder of my stay. After a total 11+ months down here, I don't want a roommate again. Some chipper, too cheery, tan-compared-to-us-pale-winterover people, germ packin' newbie. All the 'bugs' went through everyone long ago, but we aren't immune to anything from outside. Doses of the latest flu vaccines are coming on the first flight. Hopefully I've got enough Ice time to rate a single room. There will be a ceremony Friday afternoon to present winterover medals. Saturday at 5:30 our last winterover-only celebration starts with a beer tasting at the Southern Bar. I volunteered to pour. For other people, too. Ought to be quite a party. One third of that auction money will go to for free food and drink. One third will buy everyone either a winterover t-shirt or hat. The final third was spent on gift certificates to be awarded as door prizes. The talent show begins at 8 PM at Gallagher's Bar. I'm told the band that's been assembled will be one of the best ever on the Ice - that's saying something. The following Friday, August 13, the first flight of Winfly people are due. That's both good and bad. There are 198 of us who wintered. Some will be leaving at Winfly. Most of us will stay while it gets crowded as some 400 people rain down on us, for good or ill. However, we will also get freshies - fresh fruits and vegetables. Maybe, just maybe, we will also get mail. And as the Beatles sang, "Here comes the sun . . . " more and more every day. The end is near. >

Mid-winter, the solstice

Monday, June 21 -11F 8mph winds -28 F windchill June 20, the summer solstice in the north, the winter solstice down here. The fact that it's the shortest day of the year doesn't mean much when there is just the slightest sliver of daylight for an hour or so along the northern horizon.

However, it's as dark as it is going to get. From here on, the amount of light will increase. I started to type 'sunlight', but in fact, the sun won't be shining directly on McTown for some months to come. The next sunrise behind the mountain to the north, beyond our sight, is August 19th.

For people on all the stations in Antarctica, mid-winter is THE event of the winter season. Stations send greetings to each other and mid-winter dinners are the highlight of the holiday. I've seen this celebration at all three U.S. stations and McMurdo has the other two beat hands down when it comes to the production. Preparations began a couple weeks ago. Last weekend there were printed invitations left at our room doors. Yesterday afternoon the preparations began in earnest. I volunteered to help set up. Set up some tables and chairs, I figured. The women that did the planning figured otherwise. There must have been 30 or more of us. Move tables and chairs, for sure, but also put out the table cloths, napkins, silverware and glasses. Window hangings. Lighting on the walls. Lighting on the tables. Two hours after it all began, I slipped away as the last of the lighting and decorations were going up. At 5:30, the cocktail hour began with wine, beer and appetizers. Attire ranged from jeans to suits, slacks to party dresses. At the galley entry, small place tags with our names were lined up on a table. You put it at a table to reserve your seat. At each place setting, the wine glass had a small rock wired to it. These are Erebus crystals.

Appetizers included cashew encrusted lamb, southwestern shrimp, chicken wontons and bruschetta with dips. Volunteers roamed with platters while wine stewards made sure no one wanted for more wine.

About 6:30, the curtains separating the serving area from the dining area were pulled back and we were invited to begin. The biggest line was for the salad, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and sprouts, a rare treat from the greenhouse. People also loaded up with entrees. Just about everyone took a crab-stuffed lobster tail, and many doubled up with beef Wellington. There was PLENTY of everything, no chance that anyone would be deprived of anything. The Cornish game hens and vegetarians' risotto croquettes weren't in demand. There were pate's and soups, several side dishes, two types of real ice cream, not the soft stuff out of a machine, a sorbet and a table laden with desserts from the bakery. A salad, the lobster, some sides, a little ice cream and a lot of little truffles and just like the lobster, I was stuffed. After dinner, the National Science Foundation representative said a few words and read a message from President Obama. Next the Raytheon station manager spoke, thanking all who made the celebration possible. The night before, a select few of our crew were included to the New Zealand celebration at Scott Base. With many of the Kiwis present, their manager commented briefly on the cooperation between the stations. Today, some hearty souls are over there taking part in the mid-winter polar plunge. Each fool, I mean, hearty soul, is hooked to a safety belt and plunge into the water through a hole in the ice specifically kept open at Scott Base. Since I hopped in the ocean a few years back over at Palmer, I decided to fore go this part of the festivities. Anyway, back to last night . . . the biggest round of applause went to the kitchen crew. All of them came out like the cast of a Broadway show and took a collective bow. They deserved it; the dinner was a feast. After dinner, many people socialized, talking and taking photos. Then the dancing began and some interesting dancing it was . . . the majority of the people are in their 20's and 30's, but the music was more appropriate in the 70's or 80's. That was fine by me; I was happily that it wasn't rap or hip hop or whatever.

People left slowly, some to their rooms while others continued the party at the bar. I was among the latter until the young folks decided to play their music - LOUD! That was okay - it was late and the two prior evenings had been late as well. We have today off as part of the celebration as well as our monthly two-day weekend. When I wintered at Pole, the dinner really was mid-winter, the middle of our season. At Palmer, we had our mid-winter dinner a few days after the last ship left and our period of isolation had just begun. Here at McTown, people that came at the beginning of the winter season are just over half way through their contracts . However . . . in about seven and half weeks, the first Winfly flight is scheduled to arrive. There are 198 folks here now. When the Winfly folks get here, there will be a total of about 650. There will be daylight again. For me, winter will be over. After that, it will largely be a matter of wrapping things up and turning them over to the folks who take over at Main Body. That's scheduled to begin in Sept. I better get busy. I don't have any definite post-Ice travel plans yet.

The times, they are a changin' . . .

Temperature 3 F Windchill -13 Wind speed 9 KPH Sunrise 10:40 AM Sunset 3:15 PM As you can see from today's statistics, the days are getting very short. Just last week sunset wasn't until almost 4:30PM. Not that we see much of the sun these days anyway. McTown is like Palmer Station in that they are both on the south shore of an island, backed up against mountains and glaciers to the north. Since the sun is riding in the northern sky more and more as winter comes on about the only time we see it is late afternoon until sunset. There have been some awesome sunsets, as you can see from the photo at the top. Aside from work, there is a lot going on down here. Bingo, Trivia nights, Spanish, folk dancing, and fencing lessons, yoga three or four nights a week, another regimen called zumba that combines dance and exercise, science lectures . . . I'm not sure if there are still organized indoor soccer and basketball games, but there is dodge ball every Friday night. There is a photo club, a writers group, a craft room several nights a week and any number of DJ's hosting shows on the local radio station. Those are just the normal weekly/monthly activities. Special events come along from time to time. On the 17th, the station store hosted a fashion show. They finally got all the new stuff that came down on the ship unpacked, tagged and displayed in the store. There are at least a dozen new sweatshirts, two dozen new hats and too many new design t-shirts. It was quite a production with a runway for the models to parade up and down and all sorts of lighting effects. I personally didn't make it to the show, I was probably busy doing laundry or something, so these photos are from the public computer files. That's Kelly, Jack and Melanie modeling some of the new shirts. I think Jack may have a new hat on; I haven't taken the time to do much shopping since the show.

I do wish I had been there for this. I'm guessing Keri was describing the hats Bob and Dave are modeling. I know nothing else Bob is displaying is available in the store, including the gangsta shirt, bandanna, shades or the bottle of tequila in his hand. Maybe the show was to show people the new wares; maybe it was just another opportunity for people to dress crazy and drink heavily. That's what a lot of the activities seem to be about.

Take this weekend. It was our monthly two-day weekend. One of the shops put on a Death and Taxes party Fri. evening. Didn't make that one either, but I had an excuse; I was at the foreman's meeting until 10PM. (The only thing that makes it the foreman's meeting is a bunch of foremen meet up most Fri. evenings at the Southern, our BYOB bar.)

Yesterday, once again the heavy shop gang held the monthly horseshoes tournament and barbecue. Somehow the soda ran out about half way through and there was beer leftover. A committee will be formed to investigate.

This morning, there were breakfast burritos, bloody marys and mimosas at Gallagher's bar - even though the bar wasn't open for business. The servers work for their tips, so everyone tries to make sure they earn it.

You may have heard a week or so ago about some activity on sun. Biggest eruption or something that's happened in fifteen years. That translates to auroras. Again, I'm borrowing from the public files; I have neither photographic equipment to go aurora chasing nor the inclination to stay up until 5 AM to catch shots like the one above. Actually, I'd be more inclined to get up to catch one at that hour than to stay up . . . .

Speaking of which, it's getting to be a little late again. See ya next time . . .

Winter and the Second Half

Sometime in the last 24 hours, I passed the half way point in this trip. It's been 209 days since I got here and there are 207 until the last day of my contract, Oct. 15. Not that I've been counting . . . there are computer programs that take care of such things. A lot has happened since I last wrote. The supply ship, the Arctic Tern, has come and gone. That's the Tern on the left. The Odin, a Swedish icebreaker that opened the channel, hung around to make sure it stayed open. Then it headed out for a scientific research project on the way back to Sweden.

A lot of extra folks were around to unload the Tern. There was some affiliation with the Navy because enlisted Naval personnel were in charge. With a large contingent of young people, working 12 hours on,12 hours off and nothing else to do, the store did not sell any alcohol and the bars were closed. It must work: I believe a record was set unloading the ship in less than three days.

Of course, the ship doesn't go home empty. All the trash and recyclables plus material and equipment that will be sold off back in the States had to be loaded. That went well also. But . . . flight schedules to get people off the Ice are made well in advance. So all those young folks had a day or two with REALLY nothing to do. The store opened for beer sales which lasted a couple hours before it sold out. I think the bars opened, too. I didn't hear of any catastrophes.

Looking back, it was positively balmy then. Temperatures were above freezing, although there were very windy days. The result was more open water than most people had seen in ten years. From time to time there were whales surfacing and spouting. I never saw any orca killer whales, but there were a number of Minkes.

Since the weather was so nice, I hiked up to Castle Rock with Jeremiah, the project plumbing foreman. Up is the operative term. It's a fairly steep climb out of town. Then it's up hill for over a mile, into the wind the whole time. Before you even crest, Castle Rock comes in sight. Beyond was the volcano, Mount Erebus. All in all, it's about four miles round trip.

That was a nice day and we had a few more, but it didn't take long for temperatures to drop. This reading is from Feb. 5. The open water didn't last long either. You can see that in the panorama at the bottom of the page taken a week or two ago. About the time the ship left, so did the majority of the population. One week we were at over 1,100 people. A week later we were under 300. On Mar. 5, the an Airbus dropped off about 20 more souls for the winter and took 80-some folks out. Barring an emergency, that's the last flight until the end of August. I'm here with 197 of my closest friends. Once a month, we get a two-day weekend. Some calculation or Antarctic voodoo incantation determined it would be the weekend following the third full week. That would be this weekend and It's been busy. Friday night, the Carp(enter) shop and Team Heat Trace (that would be us) threw a BYOB party in the Carp shop. Over the years, many festivities have been held there. A stage is set up for live music (two bands this season). An elevated dance floor covers a large table saw. Seems to be the norm here that all parties must have a barbecue and this was no exception. The Carp shop does work setting up the field camps for the scientists. Scientists, field camps at least, get a better grade of meat than folks in town. The Carps get the season's leftovers. We had fillets and even a little venison. I made it until about 11PM. One of the band members said he got home at 3AM. Yesterday the Vehicle Maintenance Facility, aka Heavy Shop, held a horseshoe tournament. BYOB, again. 64 people showed up to participate with a few more just coming for the entertainment. There was plenty. Horseshoes bouncing off concrete, careening out of a metal enclosure or just tossed errantly kept everyone on their toes - literally. No injuries. It started at 1 PM and ran until about 8 - or so I'm told. Partners were by blind draw and it was double elimination. I didn't mind the first loss to a couple guys who outscored us about 2 -1. However,in the second game, a young lady claimed she only played once before. She scored one point in her first match. Against my partner and I, she scored over 10 points, including two ringers and a leaner that took out a closest-to-the-pin of mine. Yeah, only once before . . . Last night there was a St. Patrick's Day Party at Gallagher's bar. Didn't make that one. This morning, Gallagher's was a burrito bar with bloody Marys and mimosas. Had brunch there. Those bloody Marys would have been great with oysters . . . but that will wait for another time. Actually, there have been quite a few after-work activities. We've had one bingo night and one trivia night. Volleyball and basketball in the gym are on a regular weekly basis. Someone seems to be leading yoga almost nightly. Busy place around here. That should make time go quickly for the next 207 days. Speaking of time, it's about time I finished this up and got ready for tomorrow. I can hear the wind howling outside. Unfortunately for Team Heat Trace, there is next to no indoor work. Until next month - maybe . . .

R & R

Rest and relaxation . . . rest and recreation . . . I'm not sure exactly what R and R stands for, but for me, it was relaxation and recreation which was very restful. Raytheon started - or continued - a program allowing people who winterover to take as much as a week in New Zealand. Actually, they flew us to and from Christchurch. We could go wherever we pleased. One fellow spent all his time and a lot of money flying to his home in the States for 4 days. As far as I know, most stayed in New Zealand, many not even leaving Christchurch. I stayed in town for about half my time. As is my habit, I made several trips to the Botanic Gardens, particularly the rose garden. There are almost no smells in Antarctica, so grass and flowers, even freshly turned dirt, is a welcome fragrance. I went to the garden, then to lunch at Dux de Lux, the award winning brew pub, from the garden to The Bog Irish pub, to the park for a few holes of golf, to The Bard on Avon English pub, shopping for winter necessities, to The Tap House, purveyors of Monteith's beers and stone grilled dinners. The venison was excellent as were all the different drafts, especially after months of bottled and canned beer. And all the months of bottles and cans to come.

The whole time I was there, an international busker fest was in progress. There were street performers at several set venues and impromptu performances all over. There were performances specifically for children near the entrance to the Gardens and adult stand up comedy routines in the evenings at the Art Centre. Performers came primarily from New Zealand and the USA, but there were also acts from Israel, Britain and all over eastern Europe.

Jugglers, acrobats, acrobatic jugglers, water balloon battlers, a strong lady, magicians . . . apparently a lot of the acts regularly perform in venues like Las Vegas. We got to watch them as we wandered about town, all for the price of a small donation . . . which each and every act spent the last 10 minutes of their performance reminding the audience about. As one obviously American act put it, "Obama wants change but we prefer bills."

After a couple days, I took a shuttle about 50 miles south to Akaroa, a small resort town set on a harbor on the Banks Peninsula. It was originally settled by French colonists in 1840. Unfortunately for them, by the time they made the trip and arrived, New Zealand was a British territory. None the less, they settled and created a town. It predates Christchurch.

The town isn't very large. My motel was at the center of town and a leisurely 10 minute walk in either direction took me to the edge of town. The above view across the beach inlet shows the more commercial end of town. There were bakeries and bars and boutique bread and breakfasts, shops selling a lot of expensive things we all could live without. There was also a general store and it really was - general. Hardware, food, alcohol, souvenirs, sporting goods, all crammed into a space not much bigger than some of the larger 7-11's back home. I think it dated back to the days before Akaroa became a resort. All in all, I would have to say it was an upscale resort; way more boutique shops than t-shirt shops - I'm not sure there were any of the latter. Still, meals weren't particularly expensive. A take-away (take out) fish and chips shop provided a butcher-paper-wrapped bundle of fresh caught blue cod and fries, about a pound of each, for $10 New Zealand. That's about $7 and change American. It was two lunches for me.

This looks like the original French colonial architecture, but it was built a few years ago. There are many holiday homes in Akaroa, one supposedly the second most expensive in New Zealand at $7 million. There is also a home owned by an Oregon senator. Interesting.

Besides having fresh pastries and flat white coffee at the bakery in the morning, cold beers on the beach or on my balcony in the afternoon and fresh fish, cod, flounder and monk fish for dinner in the evenings, I managed to squeeze in a couple of walks in the hills and an afternoon ride on a sailboat to see dolphins and penguins and seals.

This is Daly's Pier, the original pier for the town. The small building is the bell tower of a former school. It was right out front from my room, the place I boarded the sailboat, a great place to hang out and a wonderful photo subject. After a few days I was totally relaxed.

Then I had to leave.

I got back to Christchurch on a Thursday, caught up with some other R&R folk on Friday and flew back to the Ice on Saturday.

That was two weeks ago. Since then there have been hundreds and hundreds of people in and out of McMurdo. About 100 were here to unload the cargo ship. That ended last Saturday and those folks left. Most people that were in field camps have left. People who aren't wintering at South Pole are passing through. As of this morning there were still over 800 souls on station. About 120 left today. The over next two days many more go. Thursday and next Saturday will see all but a few more leaving. There are still some winterovers coming as well.

The last flight is scheduled for March 5. I think all the winterovers will be glad to see people go so we can settle in and get on with our season.

I'll write more when things have settled down. . . .

Around town . . .

It's been a while, I know, but it's been busy around here. My last post was before Christmas. As celebrations go in Antarctica, Christmas wasn't much around here. There was a well attended station party with dresses and a few suits but very quiet and low key. Holidays are celebrated on Saturdays - usually. We celebrated Christmas on Friday the 25th and Saturday, worked Sunday and on through Friday the 1st, then celebrated the 2nd and 3rd. Go figure. Anyway, maybe everyone was saving up for the second weekend. New Years had some celebrants in the bars, but no big party. Icestock was on the 2nd. It was your basic outdoor concert with crafts for sale. Some custom made t-shirts and hats that were shipped in and a lot of locally assembled jewelery. The food, chili and brats, were free, but there were tip jars for the cooks. As you can see, the weather cooperated with warm, 30-something temperatures, calm winds and clear skies. There are medical clinics set up at a lot of festivals but how many ever offer free H1N1 vaccinations? There was dancing in the streets and hula hoopsters. Apparently some folk had deprived childhoods and never learned how. But then, what do you expect from a beaker? (Science folk, to any that didn't know that already.) I could hear most of the bands and musicians from my room. As I said, it was warm enough to have the window open. This is the view from the end of the hall. Practically front row seating. Since then, a lot of people have been coming through town. Most are heading back from field camps where they were doing research. It's been getting warmer - sometimes - and the sea ice is beginning to melt. The penguins and seals are showing up quite a bit. The seals aren't much fun. As I mentioned before, they are known as sea slugs around these parts. The little adelie penguins are another story. There are dozens around, although not usually right in town. They can be seen pretty regularly around the holes off of Hut Point. One day on our way home from work we spotted a few down by the pump house on the edge of town. Photo op. About six of us had our photos taken like this. You'd have thought we'd never seen penguins before. The adelies were a lot closer than this when we first got there, but they took off toward Hut Point. Ye Olde Swimming Hole ? I've been told there are four emperor penguins about 10 miles out on the road to the airfield. About the same time the adelies and other critters showed up, we saw the Swedish icebreaker, the Oden, breaking a channel in to McTown. It's been here busting out a large turning basin just off shore and clearing a path to the ice pier. Our 'pier' is a large chunk of ice that is tied to the shore and connected by a removable bridge. Anyway, the Oden will be around for a while. It continues to break up the ice, which is allowing it to melt and clear out quicker. It will also escort the ships in to the pier. First the fuel tanker will come in and offload something like 6,000,000 gallons or more of fuel. That's for McTown and the South Pole and all the field camps. The schedule is for the tanker to leave Feb. 1 and the Arctic Tern, the container supply ship, to dock the following day. For 10 to 14 days, operations will run 24 hours a day. Supplies will be unloaded and then an awful lot of trash and any material being returned will be loaded. It goes back to California and Washington. I don't know why Washington. Maybe some trash can't be dropped off in California. People are already beginning to leave and many, many more will be going out after the ships leave. With few exceptions, everyone but the winter over crew will be gone by Feb. 20. I'll try to remember to write before then. And thanks to all of you that understood the problem with receiving large emails down here. . . gets very frustrating trying to get email downloaded when the pipe is plugged.