An Obituary

Dry Ice is dead.

It is likely that anybody who was aware that Dry Ice existed would know that it has long since died.  But just in case anybody stumbles upon the site, it must be said, officially, that the blog is dead.  Time of death cannot be pinpointed exactly, but it would fall sometime in February 2008, when both Morgen and Cedar redeployed and left Antarctica.  It was a somewhat failed attempt at updating their friends and family of the goings on in Antarctica, but it did serve its purpose at times.  Fair thee well, Dry Ice.

On that note, and in case anybody is interested, Cedar is deploying for a second season on the ice.  If you care to read the goings on thereof (and if she manages to update it), her new Antarctic blog can be found at http://freezerburnt.wordpress.com.  Ciao!

Antarctica: The Revival

No, we’re not dead.

 

I mean, it is a possibility, being a harsh continent and all, but I am writing to let you all know that Morgen and I are still very much alive.  Please do accept our apologies for not updating our blog in more than a month.  What can I say?  We are so much into a routine down here that we forget that we are supposed to be keeping track of what we do and updating people back home.  I shall try…

 

It is currently Tuesday, December 18, here at McMurdo Station, which makes it two months and six days since we first arrived.  Work really is not very exciting – we’re still washing pots and dishes day in and day out – but at least we know what we’re doing now, and we seem to have managed to orchestrate a series of alarms that ensures we do get to work on time.  Barely.  We had a few issues with that… (Big surprise to all of you who know us, I’m sure.J)

 

Since I last wrote on November 11, we celebrated Thanksgiving.  It was quite the event on station, with the majority of the community getting a two-day weekend; we in food service received a “holiday”, or extra day off, at another time during the month since all Galley staff was required to work on the day of the big meal.  The Galley really went all-out with the Thanksgiving meal.  We did three seatings to accommodate all 1000+ people in town, the service area and dining room were decked out with white and gold linens, and the food was amazing.  With my recent self-challenge to see how I do as a vegetarian, I was slightly worried that my Thanksgiving wouldn’t be as enjoyable as all the turkey-eaters’, but I was causing wrinkles for no reason because the veggie feast was SUPERB.  Dare I say the cornbread stuffing may be even better than the real thing…?  Ok, nothing beats the home-cooked stuffing, but this was a close second.  It was a really fun day, and although I got a little homesick when I thought about Thanksgiving at home with my family, my fellow Galleyfolk were quick to remind me that we were a family-away-from-family. <awwwww>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It may have taken us two months of settling in, but Morgen and I are finally starting to get out a bit more.  We took advantage of some “delta trips” that were scheduled to go to Cape Evans, where we got to see another of Captain Scott’s huts (the delta trips only happen while the sea ice is stable, so there was a small window of opportunity).  The hut was pretty cool, since things seem to be more where they were left in 1910 rather than moved around (as seems to be the case with the Discovery Hut near McMurdo), but one of the main reasons to go out on the delta was the chance to possibly spot a penguin.  Alas, neither Morgen nor I saw any of the little guys (other trips did), but we did see a pretty huge seal chillin’ on the sea ice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we took another little trip to the pressure ridges.  The pressure ridges form where the permanent floating ice sheet meets the sea ice.  The ice sheet advances approximately one meter per day, so when it comes into contact with the sea ice, the energy pushes huge chunks of ice up into ridges (think plate tectonics and the Himalayas).  The formations were awesome, and we got to walk right through them.  Although, with the weather as warm as it’s been lately, the snow on top of the ice was pretty soft and we sank up to our knees a few times.  I must say that when you’re walking on ice, fully aware that there is sub-freezing sea water below you, it’s a tad unnerving to feel yourself going down.  Really no reason to worry though, since the ice sheet is about 200-feet-thick where we were at (it’s 400-feet-thick where they land the planes at Willy Field).  We also saw a group of about 7 seals chillin’ on the ice.  Well, at least we think they were chilling… they may have been dead for all they moved…

 

We have also started hiking a bit more.  Morgen has recently been inspired to climb Ob Hill nearly every day; what can I say, I don’t have her motivation, so I’m not doing it daily, but I have started climbing it more.  The view is unbeatable, and lately it’s been so bright, sunny, and warm that we can hang out on the top of the hill in our shirtsleeves and just take in the scenery.  There is now an ever-widening band of blue on the northern horizon: that’s right, the water is coming!  Bit by bit, the sea ice is receding and the water is coming.  The ice-breaker is scheduled to arrive in early January, and there is speculation that the sound may open up all the way down to Scott Base, which hasn’t happened in years and would greatly increase the potential for wildlife sightings.  Keep your fingers crossed…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As far as getting involved in the science goes, that’s been something of a challenge.  As promised, there are weekly science lectures held in the Galley.  The problem is, they happen right before or right as we’re getting off work (if we happen to be working the PM shift), or right before we should be going to bed (if we’re on the AM shift), so we’re usually so dead tired that it’s hard to stay awake.  This is also compounded by the sad fact that a good scientist does not a good speaker/presenter make.  It’s unfortunate that some of the most interesting topics have been presented in such a way that only an expert on the subject would be able to understand it.  There are some cool projects going on here right now, though.  The ANDRILL project, for example, is an international project (I think 5 nations are involved) which is drilling for sediments to obtain a deep record (no pun intended J) of how ice cover in Antarctica has changed over time, and what that might mean for the future with concerns about increasing carbon dioxide and global warming.  More information can, of course, be found at http://www.andrill.org/.

 

We also made friends with a beaker (science person; see glossary), who gave us a private tour of the Crary Science Center.  Ok, I won’t lie, we didn’t tour the whole center; we just went to see the octopus they had pulled up a few days before.  Nick, our friend the beaker, was here on a project called SCINI, the main purpose of which was to build a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) with which they were going to map sewer outfall from McMurdo Station and study its effects on microbiology in McMurdo sound.  Apparently, when they pull stuff up from the sea floor, these octopuses will sometime attach themselves to the equipment.  Because of the huge change in pressure from the bottom of the sea floor through the ice to the surface, they can’t put the octopuses back because they will just die immediately.  Therefore, the octopus who makes the unfortunate decision to latch onto the equipment will live out the remainder of his days in the Crary Science Center at McMurdo Station.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well folks, I’ve covered the weather, the social events, the hiking, and the science.  Quite frankly, I’m sick of sitting at the computer now and this post is too long as it is.  Please all join me in mentally commanding Morgen to add her perspective on the haps here in McMurdo.

 

I hope all of you who are stateside are enjoying the winter so far (man, I’m glad it’s summer here… J).  Happy holiday season!  –Cedar

Oh the weather outside was frightful

**pre-read note: please see compiled glossary for any acronyms or terms that are unfamiliar.

 

So we experienced a Condition 1 weather event here at McMurdo Station.  We weren’t sure we were going to get the opportunity, but it happened.

 

Weather is categorized according to three pre-defined conditions: Condition 3 means normal or close-to-normal conditions; Condition 2 is getting a little colder, windier, and reduced visibility, with work and travel outside possible but requiring extra precautions and checking in and out with the Firehouse; Condition 1, on the other hand, means conditions are freakishly Antarctic-like, you probably can’t see more than a handful of feet in front of you, and you are not allowed to leave whatever building you happen to be in.

 

So Condition 1 struck the station, and a few lucky ducks got “stuck” in Gallagher’s bar with Ann Curry (of NBC’s Today Show, for those of you who are television-ly challenged) and her film crew buying the drinks.  Poor pups.  Those of us who were not holed up in the local watering hole with national celebrities satisfied ourselves with curling up in the dining room with cups of hot cocoa and tea and marveling at the sheet of white whiteness outside every window.  We couldn’t even see the buildings next to the one we were in.  One word: THRILLING.

 

The day before the Condition 1 struck the station, I had been out and about on the Ice Runway (i.e. the strip of sea ice where we are currently landing the C-17s and C-130s bringing pax and cargo to station) as I am one of the DAs that takes turns going down to the smaller galley on the IR to serve meals to the folks who can’t make it up to base during mealtimes.  We are typically accustomed to serving around 40 people in that dining room, but part way through dinner we got a call from someone letting us know that the flight headed to the South Pole had boomeranged, was returning to station, and to expect 60 more diners on the runway.  Things got (understandably) quite hectic after that, and I got sidetracked to the point that I didn’t look out the window for about a half hour.  Then on my way by a window, out of which I had earlier been able to see two planes sitting about 60 yards away, I noticed that there were no longer any planes to be seen, but instead a wall of white.  Uh-oh.  The cook and I debated, and decided to terminate dinner before the agreed-upon hour, throw some dinner trays into the fridge for anyone who came looking for food after we left, and hastily packed up to head back up to station.  We didn’t do any of the normal cleaning, but just got out of there before they called Condition 1 and we were stuck for the night on the runway.  Before setting off in the Lunchbox (our very tipsy meal-carrying truck), we checked in with the Firehouse to give them our stats (“this is Vehicle 1-3-9 to Firehouse, do you copy? We are departing ice runway for station, driver Townshend, two passengers, our ETR is 30 minutes, over.” I’m good at this ).  They gave us the go-ahead to drive back, meaning Condition 1 hadn’t been called.  Well let me tell you this: the weather condition in effect is NOT based solely upon actual weather conditions, but more on the weather plus how much it will inconvenience the people in charge.  As we started driving, we couldn’t see a THING.  Finally, we got to the point on the road where the flags started.  Flags are placed at roughly 25-foot intervals along the side of the road all the way up to station.  As we got to each flag, we could just BARELY make out the faint outline of the next flag ahead.  Needless to say, we drove about 5 mph, and the drive that normally takes 10 minutes took us a half hour, with two close calls where the road bends ninety-degrees.  The station is basically right on the shore, but we couldn’t make out a single building until we got to the ice-land transition.  Again, THRILLING, but I was sure glad to see those buildings.  We got back to the galley and checked back in with the Firehouse EXACTLY as our ETR time was up, and the Firehouse was about to call us to make sure they didn’t need to send SAR to find us.

 

So, the word of the week for McMurdo is THRILLING.  The weather is, mercifully, back to Condition 3 now so planes are starting to come in.  Morgen and I, as a result, finally got our roommate.  Apparently the mail storage space in Christchurch is full, so they are finally going to send us some of the mail that has been sitting there for weeks, being bumped for higher priority cargo like scientific equipment.  Once the mail comes through, and high-priority cargo, maybe they’ll FINALLY send us some freshies.  I haven’t had a piece of fresh fruit in about three weeks… Not that I’m complaining: I’m loving living in this harsh continent.

 

Until next time, I remain your reliably clumsy friend, –Cedar

The Today Show, Yesterday

(Note: this doesn’t totally make sense as a blog entry, as it was originally a facebook note, but I decided to publish it on here so that it would stretch just a littttllleee bit further.) 

I really suck at updating people.* I know I said I was going to have a blog, and Cedar and I did start a blog, but I’m really lazy and I’ve also found that the few emails I have sent to people have resembled blog entries (and I’m not about to use the same material twice, you know?).** Anyway, I realized that I would feel incredibly guilty if I didn’t let people know that there is an outside chance I will be on TV in Antarctica dancing like a hot-pink koosh ball at an 80s party here on McMurdo. Really, I just don’t want to let any of my followers down. Also, it’s kind of an interesting life down here or whatever. The sitch is: NBC’s Today Show is doing a special on the International Polar Year (I have been one of 30 lucky 20-somethings washing Ann Curry’s dishes for the past 4 days), and part of that includes coverage of the U.S. Antarctic Program. So here’s the schedule, in order that no one can say that I didn’t share this awesome opportunity with you, my bestest of facebook friends.

Today Show Day 1: Nov 5, 5am – 9:15am Eastern
Today Show Day 2: Nov 6, 5am – 9:15am Eastern
NBC Nightly News: Nov 6, 6:15pm – 7:00pm Eastern

They’ll alternate between programming on the North Pole, the “equator” (you know, that one place called the equator), and the ICE. Day 1 will cover Antarctica as a continent. Bo-ring. I would much rather watch Planet Earth for that. But Day 2 is supposed to be about this wild and crazy life I am living. Maybe I will write on the blog some time (dryice.wordpress.com, because Cedar and I are soooo clever). There is a lot to write about, really, but I’m in a cramped computer lab and it feels weird and not all that sanitary to word-vomit my life all over the public keyboard (bring your laptop next time you go to Antarctica, if you can manage to stomach the extra government-funded security screening). Because nobody likes a waste management specialist, site safety engineer, or fireman looking over your shoulder. But seriously, ya’ll, I hope you are doing really awesome. I, for one, am doing awesome. And hey, it looks like I basically just wrote another blog entry that is not on my blog. Cedar, I swear, next time I will just write on the blog.
-Morgen

*I suck at it so much that I copied this entry verbatim from a facebook note I just wrote, at the encouragement of Cedar.

**I am such a hypocrite. I totally published this material twice.

Getting the ball rolling

The first post on a page should be attention grabbing, but really, we just need to get something down in black and white so that our blog page consists of more than a message saying “I’m sorry, no posts match your request.”

 We are Morgen and Cedar, and we wash dishes in Antarctica.

 Today is day number 14 for us at McMurdo Station, located on the southern tip of Ross Island, Antarctica.  Both of us have weathered through bouts of illness (one more serious than the other, having included a nasty encounter with nasal-bordering-on-cerebral swabbing… luckily that wasn’t me), and are finally starting to settle into a pattern of dishwashing, potwashing, and generally cleaning up after messy people.  But it’s been pretty fun so far.

 We saw some amazing sunsets in the first few days when the sun was actually setting, hiking opportunities abound, and we are happily accustoming ourselves to our newfound ability to read what we want, not what we’re assigned.

At the moment, I am not motivated to write any more, so until next time, peace be with you, my friends.  –Cedar