The Whole Wide World

It’s Wednesday! The exclamation mark notes my excitement because although it is midweek for most, it is my Friday. I am always excited for my day off and they come around pretty quickly. My day started with a session in the gerbil gym. I should point out that the gym is not attached to the building I live and work in, which is known as 155. If you take a look at McMurdo Station on Google Maps, you will see a big blue building in the center of town, that is 155. The galley is located in that big blue building as well, so I am pretty self-contained, with my eat, sleep and work spaces all in the same building. There are other buildings that are strictly dorms, but I opted to stay in 155 over the winter. I do go outside everyday though.

When I walked to and from the chapel last night it was snowing, just a very light flurry. It was the same case when I woke up this morning and headed over to the gerbil gym. Surprisingly, it doesn’t really snow here all that often. There is always new snow around, but it is typically snow the wind has blown into town. The weather can be very different just five minutes away from town. It was nice to see the snow falling and to hear the crunch of it under my feet. Other than the noises we create and the hum of the power plant it is very quiet here. The same goes for smells, those are also lacking.

I did a little rearranging in the store at work today. On Friday, we are moving some couches and tables into the store to make it an additional winter gathering space. Mainly for Sundays when the store is open all day. I have coloring books out and people often stop by on their breaks just to color and chat, so I’m adding some seating and maybe a coffee table for some puzzles too. It’s been set up like that in previous winter seasons. I’m also going to do some recruiting and see if any of the talent from Open Mic night on Monday are interested in busking in the store on Sundays. We have to keep ourselves entertained down here over this long dark cold winter! 

Speaking of entertainment, after work, I went over to Gallagher’s (the station pub) for trivia night. My friend Marty was the host and he did a great job. I am not just saying that because my team won either. Marty and I got to know each other pretty well over the summer season as he and I were both picked to work at Williams (Willy) Airfield. That’s an ice airfield located about 18 kilometers out of town on the Ross Ice Shelf, which we were shuttled to and from in a big wheeled van. The planes that take off/land at Willy Field during the summer, are all equipped with skis. LC130’s, Twin Otters and Baslers to be exact.

Marty was the head chef out at Willy Airfield and I was there in my stewie blues. We worked together feeding the Air National Guard, firefighters and the support staff for the runway. Rather than feeding 800-1000 people in town, we were feeding about 50 which was a nice change of pace. Marty is the King of Puns so he kept it entertaining with his terrible jokes. He’s also not too far from me back home, hailing from Huntington, West Virginia. Working at the airfield was a treat, not too many people can say they have worked at an ice airfield, on top of the frozen sea, with a view from the kitchen door of Mt. Erebus, the world’s Southernmost active volcano. Pretty dang special.