Happy May! It is hard for me to believe that it is May already. I have been at the south pole now for about 180 days, that’s a long time, and I have about 195 days to go. This time has gone by quickly for me, and I hope it continues to move quickly as the winter progresses. This is the longest time I have been away from my family and friends back home often…especially when I am sick of working for the day and would love to have some of my mothers cooking or just to play with my dog again!
Its completely dark out now! And although it has been dark for a few weeks now I am still not used to walking outside in the middle of the day and having it be completely dark. There has been no moon for the past few weeks making it seem even darker out so even on my short walk between the station and the dome I put on a head lamp, and even then sometimes I can only see the dome when I am just about on top of it. Below is a picture one of my fellow “polies” took of an aurora we saw recently. We do see them pretty frequently and we are currently seeing lost of meteors too. 
So in our greenhouse I have planted some Spinach plants! “Greenhouse Joe” our greenhouse technician helped me start the seeds, and then I recently transplanted them into the grownup part of the greenhouse. (see picture below). My little plants have been growing quite fast and I hope they continue to do so! Recently we have even gotten some fresh peas from the greenhouse! And we almost always have lettuce and cucumbers to keep all us polies happy. 
Friday May 1st was a sad day here at the south pole because THE LAST FRESH EGG was used during breakfast. So that’s it until the 1st plane in late October. From this point on we will have “pasteurized egg product” for all our egg needs. I have to admit the eggs lasted longer then I thought they would…but I was still rather sad to see the final egg cooked up for someone’s breakfast.
Not too much else to report on from down here. I have been spending my days working and my nights star gazing and watching movies with friends. It is really a pretty nice life down here at the pole. And I am happy to admit I have only felt a little “stir crazy” a few times since the winter started…but those feeling were cured by a trip to the gym and a walk outside!
1 comment:
Hi Erin,
My name is Morgan, and I found your blog on Google. It's awesome, by the way. I hope you don't mind receiving a comment from a stranger! I've been trying to find blogs by women who are on the support staff in Antarctica, because I'm planning to apply as well. I have a few questions, mostly specific to women's experiences on the bases, that I'd love to ask if you have a minute sometime. Would you mind if I sent them your way? If not, my email address is morgan dot seag at gmail dot com. Thanks so much!
-Morgan
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