La Aventura Escrita: Hark, A Herald Angel Sings!

“I have always thought of Christmas as a good time; a kind, forgiving, generous, pleasant time; a time when men and women seem to open their hearts freely, and so I say, God bless Christmas!” ~~Charles Dickens

Current Weather:
0°C|32°F Temperature
-5°C|22°F Wind Chill
Skies: Clear
Visibility (miles): Unrestricted

Winds (knots): E @ 16

'Tis the season to be jolly, yet Christmas kind of came and went with barely the blink of an eye for this hard working little elf. And yes, Santa Claus did make an appearance at the bottom of the world for those of you who may have been wondering. His sleigh consisted of a brightly lit piston bully, Antarctic style, minus the eight tiny little reindeer. How he snuck in here under 24 hours of daylight without any detection, I have no idea, but Santa Claus did indeed make an appearance here at McMurdo.

Santa's "Sleigh" Antarctica Style

Christmas Eve arrived along with blinding sun and warm temperatures for Antarctica. Snow melted left and right, people strolled from building to building in their shirt sleeves or "light weight" jackets. We all donned our nice evening attire to celebrate another fantastic meal put on by the Galley Folks. This time around however, I will admit, it was difficult to enjoy the prime rib and rich deserts since it felt like eating dinner at 05:00am in the morning since I am still on the night shift. But I was still thankful for the effort put into that meal.

Carols were sung and a classic Christmas Party was thrown at the VMF building (Vehicle Maintenance Facility). That was where a jolly Saint Nick was found and the opportunity to sit on Santa's lap was had by all.

Some of the Shuttles Family getting their quality Santa time

Holiday photo with Santa

There was even the special appearance of a live nativity scene with Baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph:

Antarctic Nativity Scene

Over all, my experience of Christmas in Antarctica went rather quickly. Some of it was due to the fact that when you're on the night shift you're sleeping during the day when the majority of the social events were going on. However, I was still able to partake in the nice dinner and the Christmas party that was thrown on Christmas Eve. Despite not being able to fully experience my first holiday season in Antarctica, I was still thankful for what experience I did get. As always in my life, it's the little things that matter.

Getting to have a white Christmas is pretty much a given here in Antarctica. Yes, it is summer and the temperatures are spiking, but we are attached to a permanent Ice shelf so we're surrounded by snow and ice about three hundred feet thick. There was plenty of snow for everyone. I felt as though Christmas in Antarctica had become simplified. It was a welcoming feeling. There was no mass chaos due to Black Friday or packed lines in the supermarket while people fought over those last minute Christmas sales.

Here, you simply stood in line to wait your turn to get a chance at the phone to call your family and loved ones missing you some ten thousand miles away. If you mailed gifts from the store here at McMurdo, you mailed them two months ago to ensure that they would make it in time for the holidays there in the states. If you didn't mail gifts, you did all your shopping on line via our slow satellite fed Internet. Or you simply celebrated the holidays with your family and friends before you left for the Ice.

I felt as though by being here in Antarctica for Christmas, it made you remember to recognize that Christmas was more about loving family and friends rather than material goods. Some here at McMurdo were lucky enough to have their loved ones here with them working right along next to them, while many of us simply had to make do with a phone call or a long email or a hand written letter. But that was alright. You had friends and family missing you back in the states, but you also had a small family here who cared for you.

There are no major supermarket or outlets to go shopping at here in McMurdo. If you want to give a gift to someone here on base, it requires creativity. People went Skua shopping to find recycled gifts. Others stormed the craft room and walked out with something colorful and creative they had designed with the limited supplies there.

As for Christmas decorations. We all settled for a fake Christmas tree in the galley lit up with decorations and bright lights. Others decorated their dorm room doors with construction paper trees and snowflakes while others hung Christmas lights from their ceilings. Live plants or trees of any sort are not allowed here on base nor are fires. So in the galley while we ate our fabulous Christmas dinner, a video of a fire burning in a fireplace played over and over with actual snaps, crackle, and pops simulating the sounds of a real fire.

Again, it's the little things that matter.

Something that has always been one of my favorite parts of Christmas was getting a stocking. The Christmas tradition with my family growing up as a child was to get our stockings Christmas morning and then wait until the evening after Christmas dinner to open gifts. The youngest child (yours truly) would hand out a gift one at a time and we would wait while that person opened their gift before handing out another to be opened. As a young child, this always felt like torture because we had to sit all day staring at the tree wondering what gifts sat beneath that evergreen. As I got older, I soon learned to appreciate the patience of prolonging a special day. Christmas wasn't about gifts necessarily, but more about the people you were with on that day. We would spend all day listening to Christmas music, eating nuts and chocolate, watching classic Christmas movies, and then finally, finally we could sit down after evening chores and dinner to open gifts. It's something I miss, but most of all, I missed getting a stocking.

This year, Santa was kind and left a stocking on my bed in the wee hours of the morning.