Gobble, Gobble: What Are You Thankful For?

"Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse." ~~Henry Van Dyke

Current Weather:
-2°C|28°F Temperature
-7°C|20°F Wind Chill
Skies: Mostly Clear  

Visibility (miles): Unrestricted  

Winds (knots): N @ 7

Thanksgiving 2011. If someone had asked me a year ago where I thought I might find myself on Thanksgiving in 2011, I would never have said McMurdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica. A year ago I was living in Juneau, AK deep frying a turkey with a gathering of close friends.

But here I am. It proves that you never know where life will take you. When I look back on it, I think the last ten years of my life have proved that answer to life’s question over and over on a continual basis.

Yet, I constantly have to keep reminding myself.

You never know where life will take you. The remedy to that is: live it one day at a time and be thankful for what you’re given whether it’s big or small. Don’t question, don’t fret. Take it as it is. It could be a whole lot worse. And for someone out there, it is, sadly enough.

I’ll admit Thanksgiving has not always been a major event for me other than an opportunity to spend time with my family. It’s been more of my brother’s holiday considering the fact that he was actually born on Thanksgiving Day. So in a way I’d say he has the right to call it his holiday. Pumpkin pie is his favorite pie. He loves eating turkey.

Me, well: I don’t watch football. I don’t like pumpkin pie. I don’t like gorging myself on so much food that I have to sit back and unbutton my pants so I can breathe. It’s not exactly my thing. But yet I’m still thankful. The idea of eating a ton of food isn't always that exciting for me, but the idea of cooking all that food  is. And that was how I filled my niche when it came to Thanksgiving and giving back.

I grew up on a dairy farm and that dairy farm is what my mother and father still operate today. It’s just my mom and dad; a two man operation. They are modern day heroes. Despite the challenges of commercialized farming, they are still plugging away. They are living a way of life that pretty much no longer exists when it comes to providing food for this country. I was raised on a lifestyle that many today view as a novelty such as “the weekend farmer.” Today, people would love to live the lifestyle I grew up with as long as they could walk away from it after a weekend. But for us, it was reality. It was food on our plates and a roof over our heads. My dad lives and breathes dairy farming. My mom lives and breathes dairy farming for my father. Without him, she wouldn’t know what to do. Without her, he’d be lost. They are the June Carter and Johnny Cash of the 21st century. They walk down the center of the barn holding hands each morning. When I was young, it made me squirm to see their affection. Today, that memory of them holding hands brings a tear to my eye. It’s a friendship and a connection that I can only hope for and may someday find in the right person. I am thankful for the upbringing and beliefs that they instilled in me as a child to make me who I am today. They might not realize it, but it’s because of them I am here today in Antarctica.

They raised me to be strong and to survive.

And for that I am thankful.

To show my gratitude I would cook for them when I was able to make it home for the holidays. Working in my mother’s kitchen with all her cook books was my zen garden. The smell of freshly baked rolls and a roasting turkey in the oven would make my taste buds salivate. I would put all my heart and soul into cooking to provide them with a meal that they could not always produce on their own because they didn’t have the time when it was just the two of them. At this point I have been away from home for so long that I no longer know the regular routine that they have for chores in the barn. But what I could do for them was cook. That was easy for me.

And so I cooked.

This year, I’m here, in Antarctica. Ironic isn’t it? The holidays are meant to be close with your family, yet here I am, the furthest away you could possibly get.

At the bottom of the world.

I couldn’t cook for my family. I couldn’t even call them because I was in transition to night shift so my days and nights had suddenly become a blur and I didn’t know which was which, or what was up or down.

But there was still a family here, a family of new friends and co-workers, people who cared and smiled when they saw you. We had a staff of chefs and bakers and dining attendants who prepared our Thanksgiving meal for us. None of us had to lift a finger to prepare a single dish. We could simply don our one set of nice dress clothes they all told us to bring down and walk in and take a seat. 

 

However, our small community had been in a world of white for over three days. Flights coming in and going out had been cancelled for three days straight due to the weather. The planes needed a 3 mile visibility in order to do an emergency landing if they ever needed to. The massive low pressure system that was sitting over us was determined to not give us the 3 mile visibility that we needed. It was Mother Nature’s way of reminding us that she was still in charge. We were at a standstill. On one of those flights from Christchurch, New Zealand were all the fresh vegetables and fruit that were supposed to be a part of our meal on Thanksgiving. It never showed up.

Believe it or not, people grumbled. No freshies for Thanksgiving? What!? Unacceptable.

Now, granted I haven’t even weathered a full two months here on Antarctic soil. I don’t have the right to be considered a “seasoned veteran.” That comes after twenty years of ice time. These are the people you bow down to. After twenty years, I suppose you have the right to complain over trivial things such as delayed flights holding delayed vegetables.

But I still found myself a little dumbfounded that people were actually complaining that there weren’t going to be any freshies for Thanksgiving. How had we lost track of the little things? The things that really mattered?

We are humans sitting on a continent of ice at the bottom of the world. In all honesty, we’re not supposed to be here. There are no people indigenous to Antarctica, but we greedy humans in the name of manifest destiny felt it was our right to set foot on this continent and stay.

And so here we are. We live in an environment that could easily kill us in a matter of minutes if we’re not prepared. McMurdo operates off of generators and if all backup generators failed, we’re done. We have planes landing on a mere six feet of sea ice because there is nowhere for a landing strip on Ross Island where McMurdo sits. If the ice goes, the runway goes and we’re done.

It’s as simple as that.

But here we are, complaining about no freshies.

Let’s be thankful for what we do have: warmth, food even (if it isn’t “fresh”), a once in a life time experience, and most of all, each other. We have each other.

I am thankful for that and this opportunity to be here sharing it with all these amazing people.

As it were, the cook staff pulled off a famously amazing meal without any freshies. It was so amazing they received a standing ovation. So I guess we were all thankful in the end after all.

And that was Thanksgiving in Antarctica. I was not there in New York with my family, but my heart was there.

What did you find yourself thankful for this holiday season? 

 

Here's a few photos from the Holiday Thanksgiving Weekend at McMurdo:

 

The Turkey Hosts of the Annual McMurdo 5k Turkey Trot

One of the first runners coming in to the finish line being heckled by the Turkeys

Thanksgiving Meal with all my co-workers. There were 31 of us.

Travis one of my co-workers with his Turkey Leg

A Visit By Some Turkeys at Dinner

My fabulous Dinner

 

McMurdo Tidbits

"To live is to experience things, not sit around pondering the meaning of life." ~~Paul Coelho

Current Weather:
-1°C|30°FTemperature
-4°C|24°FWind Chil
Skies: Clear
Visibility (miles): Unrestricted
Winds (knots): E @ 7

As per request from one of my faithful readers, I finally forced myself to sit down and gather some interesting facts in regards to life at McMurdo and Antarctica. I’ll do my best to have it all make sense.

McMurdo Specific Lingo and Jargon:

• Big Red—Our beefy Canadian Goose Red Parkas that we wear when the wind gets brisk—they’re virtually invincible
• Freshies—What we call fresh vegetables and fruit that come in on the C-17’s
• Skiers—In reference to the LC-130’s—planes that have skies on the bottom of them for landing at the South Pole and field camps
• Con I,II,III—Weather Conditions that determine whether we can work outside or not
• Sci-Co—Stands for the Science Cargo building
• Eyebrow, 004—Stands for the Science Support Center
• The Chalet—The NSF (National Science Foundation) Headquarters
• The BFC—Also called Building Full of Chicks, Big Frickin’ Building…but it really stands for the Byrd Field Center. It’s the building where field camps get outfitted for their expeditions in the field
• MacTown—McMurdo
• Polies—People who work down at the South Pole
• American Night—Thursday nights where it’s an open invitation from our International neighbors to catch a shuttle and go over to the New Zealand Scott Base to buy a beer and shop in their store.
• Beakers—Scientists/Grantees
• On Ice—living in Antarctica
• Deployment—Leaving the states for Antarctica
• Re-Deployment—Leaving Antarctica for the states
• To Skua—Basically Antarctica’s very own GoodWill or Salvation Army. When people leave they will donate things that they don’t want to take back with them to Skua bins so it can be re-used into the community. You can find amazing things such as costume materials, Christmas Decorations, blankets, etc etc. It’s also named after the one bird that can be found here in Antarctica—the Skuas which are major scavengers.
• DA’s—Dining Attendants
• GA’s—General Assistants, also called Generally Awesome
• Nightingale—A term used in reference to a Med-Evac
• Freezing Man—McMurdo’s very own Burning Man
• Bell Hop—When a flight of new arrivals come in we shuttlers drive them to their dorms with all their luggage so they don’t have to drag their gear down to their dorms
• Bag Drag—When a flight is headed out of McMurdo we shuttlers will pick up the passengers from their dorms with all their gear and bring them up to the ATO (Antarctic Terminal Operations) Building so they can check in for their flight
• Happy Camper School—Antarctic Survival School where everyone that will be working outside gets to have the opportunity to go spend two days out in the Antarctic elements and learn how to winter camp and how to survive in a white out if they were to get stuck in a storm
• Boondoggle—A “moral” trip where you could get the chance to tag along for a day or two out to a field camp and assist people with menial tasks. Basically any opportunity to get off Base and see some of the remote areas surrounding McMurdo. Happy Camper School is considered a boondoggle for first season employees.
• Skidoos—Snowmobiles or what some people also call snow machines depending on what part of the country you’re from
• Piston Bullies—These boxy little vehicles that are run on tracks and take people out over the ice to dive camps and other remote field camps
• DJ (Derelict Junction)—The bus stop on the side of Building 155. Kind of the main bus stop in all of McMurdo
• Fingies—What they call newbies to Antarctica
• “It’s a Harsh Continent”—The sarcastic response whenever anyone complains about something… “Oh, well you know, it’s a harsh continent.”
• SPOT—South Pole Traverse—A mission to drive fuel and supplies over land to the South Pole Station

Weather Definitions:

Condition I (Severe Weather Classification):

• Winds greater than 55 knots sustained for one minute, or
• Visibility less than 100 feet sustained for one minute, or
• Wind chill greater than -100°F sustained for one minute.

Restrictions During Con I: Severe weather is in progress. All personnel must remain in buildings or the nearest shelter. If you’re on the road, you must stop immediately, remain where you are, call into the Firehouse and await further instructions for evacuation.

I finally got to experience a Con I two day storm right after Halloween!

The morning before everything turned to Con I

Condition II (Severe Weather Classification):

• Winds 48 to 55 knots sustained for one minute, or
• Visibility less than ¼ mile, but greater than or equal to 100 feet sustained for one minute, or
• Wind chill -75°F to -100°F sustained for one minute.

Restrictions During Con II: Restricted pedestrian traffic only between buildings is allowed. Vehicular travel is only allowed in radio equipped, enclosed vehicles, and check out with the Firehouse, ext. 2555, is required.
I had the opportunity to experience two Con II storms since being here. Pretty amazing weather!

Driving in Con II Conditions

 An example of Driving in Con II and having to check in with the Firehouse

Condition III (Weather Classification):

• Winds less than 48 knots, and
• Visibility greater than or equal to ¼ mile, and
• Wind chill temperature warmer than -75°F.

Restrictions During Con III: Unrestricted travel and activity are allowed. AKA—It’s a beautiful day outside!

Current McMurdo Population Stats:

As of 11/4:

• Men: 787
• Women: 284—this is what it feels like to be a minority
• Total: 1,071

Station Capacity is around 1,100 people. Almost to Station Capacity. We also just received 48 Italian men that will be heading out to the Terra Nova Italian Base.

New Zealand Scott Base Population Stats:

• Summer Population: 85
• Winter Population: 14

A Month is Forever

 "We were the only pulsating creatures in a dead world of ice." ~~Frederick Albert Cook.

Current Weather:

-7°C|19°F Temperature
-13°C|8°F Wind Chill
Skies: Partly Cloudy  
Visibility (miles): Unrestricted  
Winds (knots): E @ 5
 
I’ve been in Antarctica two days shy of a month. In some ways it’s hard to believe, yet at the same time, not. The novelty has not worn off. Every day is still amazing. Surreal. Breath taking. Humbling. The last time I wrote was Oct 24th. It’s now November 12th.

Life has taken over. One day flows into another. Weeks pass, and now a month. Yet, one day is filled with hours and hours of new experiences, experiences that I don’t even know how to share. I don’t know how to write about life here. I don’t know how to share this. I’ve tried to sit down and update this blog for weeks now, but every time I sit down to a computer, I get back up and walk off to do something. It’s hard to bring myself to even check email.

I’ve become so immersed, so “absorbed.” Every night there’s something different to do. When it’s a quiet evening, you find yourself sitting for hours in the dining hall talking to good friends. It’s simple, but it’s amazing. I have to sit myself down and physically make myself think about life outside of Antarctica. Otherwise, it’s easily forgotten. Family, friends, memories, belongings left behind. Some days it doesn’t exist. It’s like it was never there. I’m going back to Alaska? I was born and raised in New York? Where are these places?

It’s like I’ve always been here. I don’t even remember who that person was that stepped off the plane on the ice runway on October 14th whose heart was racing at the idea of setting foot on a continent of ice. I remember the feeling of my first step on this continent, but everything else is gone. The face of that woman is a blur, a ghost of life past. Who was that?

All I know is who I am now.

Don’t get me wrong, I love and miss many people. But life here has taken over. The community here sucks you in and it’s a welcoming draw. They say the first season is for the experience. The second season is to make a lot of money. The third season is because you don’t know how to fit in anywhere else. Have I already reached that point? Skipped the first and second season and went straight to the third? How do you fit in anywhere else after something like this? How do you talk about life here? I’ve weathered two Antarctic storms since being here. Drove in near 100% white out conditions, battled 50 knot plus winds that were blowing me back four steps for each step forward I took. I’ve felt what it was like to have snow hit you so hard in the face that it felt like it was biting chunks of flesh out of your body. I’ve had my eyelashes freeze completely together because it was so cold out. But all of it felt natural. It felt like I was supposed to be out there doing this, seeing this. I was where I was supposed to be. 

Wraith Pinned To The Mist

(Of Montreal)

 
Let’s have bizarre celebrations
Let’s forget who forget what forget where
We’ll have bizarre celebrations
I’ll play the Satyr in Cypris you the bride being stripped bare

Let’s pretend we don’t exist
Let’s pretend we’re in Antartica

Let’s have bizarre celebrations
Lets forget when forget what forget how
We’ll have bizarre celebrations
We’ll play Tristan and Izolde but make sure I see white sails

Maybe I’ll never die
I’ll just keep growing younger with you
And you’ll grow younger too
now it seems too lovely to be true
but I know the best things always do

let’s pretend we don’t exist
let’s pretend we’re in Antartica

Let’s have bizarre celebrations
Let’s forget who forget what forget where
We’ll have bizarre celebrations
I’ll play the Satyr in Cypris you the bride being stripped bare

Let’s pretend we don’t exist
Let’s pretend we’re in Antartica

Let’s have bizarre celebrations
Lets forget when forget what forget how
We’ll have bizarre celebrations
We’ll play Tristan and Izolde but make sure I see white sails

Maybe I’ll never die
I’ll just keep growing younger with you
And you’ll grow younger too
now it seems too lovely to be true
but I know the best things always do

let’s pretend we don’t exist
let’s pretend we’re in Antartica