Happy Sunrise!

September 21^st is the official sunrise date. Although we have had much light in the sky for a few weeks now the 21^st is when the sun first peaked above the horizon. It has however been rather windy for the last few days meaning we have not actually SEEN the sun yet…but as soon as the wind dies down and the horizon cleans we should be able to see the beautiful wonderful glorious sun! Even though it is plenty light outside now the sunrise won’t be real for me until I actually get to glimpse that sun for the 1^st time.

This photo taken from near the station shows the South Pole Telescope during sunrise

To celebrate the sunrise we had another dinner like with sunset and midwinter. Lots of wonderful food and drinks! And after appetizers and dinner we had a dessert and open mic night. I preformed a few songs with various members of the community, and I think everyone had a good time. You can tell that most everyone is pretty exhausted, as almost everyone went to bed by 11pm-that’s pretty early for us polies!

people enjoying appetizers and drinks in the lounge before dinner

dessert in the lounge before open mic startedThe Polecats preforming at open mic (myself, Michele, Krissie and Emily)Myself and Damien preforming at open mic

The 1^st flight is scheduled for October 15^th! Just 24 days away. So that date is also our deadline to have the station opened. So people are busy with not only our normal daily tasking but also lots of additional jobs that need to get done like digging out “summer camp” and re-warming buildings that went cold for the winter. It’s a lot of work, and everyone is working rather hard…especially since we are still dealing with cold cold temps that when it is warm enough to get machinery out and moving everyone pretty much drops what they can to help with the outside tasks.

There is a lot of drifting that happens over the winter. Surveyors come in on the 1^st flight to study it. All this drifting makes my life challenging because it means there is always snow that needs to be shoveled.

This photo shows drifting out on the berms

this photo shows my door that provides the quickest route to the Dome. This photo was taken after it was cleared after the most recent storm. All the drifting had made it so the door was no longer visible.

Drifting near the station

Everyone has been given their “re-deployment” dates which has made everyone start to think about their post ice travel plans. These dates are off course rather fluid because when we get out of here is all very dependent on the weather and how much it will cooperate. My travel plans are still a little bit up in the air but it looks like I’ll be spending some time in New Zealand when I first get off the ice, and then hitting up Hawaii with one of my friends from down here for few weeks before heading back home to Maine. I am anxious to get home to friends and family but I’ve been told that it is good to take some time before returning home (mostly to re-adjust to the real world and normal life)…especially after spending a year on the ice.