I did indeed manage to get “home” for the holidays. It was huge relief, and now that I’m here I know that it was worth all the worry, that I wouldn’t have missed this for a South Pole Christmas for a second.
The last few days at Pole were really stressful. Things were getting done quickly and I was working crazy hours. Once I was pretty sure I could get things done and still go home on Friday or Saturday we planned things out so that me and Steve would have a couple of easier days that at the end so that we could wind down a bit and not come back to McMurdo as little broken janitors. Unfortunately the Friday and Saturday flights got cancelled so we had to leave late Thursday night. And due to some miscommunication (which is bound to happen when your boss is a 2 and a half hour flight away) we got another project added on…so that last day really broke me. I was about ready to take a baseball bat to the carpet shampooer (if I never see that thing again it will be too soon
). But we got everything done and managed to squeeze in a few sights before we hopped a plane back to Mactown.
One of the UTs (Utility Technician) took us in the dome (I had already been but didn’t get any pics the first time around) and down into the tunnels. The tunnels were easily my favorite part of South Pole, they were amazing. All the sewage pipes run through there so it smells a bit and it’s about -70 F, but it was totally worth it. The humidity from the sewage creates these long strands of ice crystals that sway back and forth can sway back and forth. Then there’s the fish the Russians put down there years and years ago and a pig’s head and a number of other odds and ends people have brought down there.
I definitely crammed some fun into that last day but it was so good to get back to McMurdo. Getting back to a regular altitude felt amazing and when our plane landed at Willy Field at 1am it was snowing big wet sloppy flakes, perfect weather to come home to.
Despite the fact that I was back for Christmas, there is always something inherently depressing about the holiday. There are so many things I loved about Christmas around here: acoustic night at the waste barn, the tow
n Christmas party, dinner at Meghan and Andy’s, etc. But in the end you still hit that lull on Christmas day where you aren’t sure what to do with yourself. Like you should be making the most out of your holiday, going and doing and such, but instead you sit around hungover, alone, watching bad Christmas movies…wishing you were anywhere else…again...or maybe that's just me. I think it’s like that part of the morning when you’re a kid and you’ve opened all your Christmas present and all the surprises and your stocking-candy-induced sugar high are over. Not to say Christmas wasn’t good, I got to have brunch with Ken and Emily and hung my chandelier I had been working on for so long. I put in a four hour nap and ended the day watching movies with some friends before heading into a four day work week….so it was no Christmas at home in front of the fireplace at home but it was a pretty good one.
The last few days at Pole were really stressful. Things were getting done quickly and I was working crazy hours. Once I was pretty sure I could get things done and still go home on Friday or Saturday we planned things out so that me and Steve would have a couple of easier days that at the end so that we could wind down a bit and not come back to McMurdo as little broken janitors. Unfortunately the Friday and Saturday flights got cancelled so we had to leave late Thursday night. And due to some miscommunication (which is bound to happen when your boss is a 2 and a half hour flight away) we got another project added on…so that last day really broke me. I was about ready to take a baseball bat to the carpet shampooer (if I never see that thing again it will be too soon
). But we got everything done and managed to squeeze in a few sights before we hopped a plane back to Mactown.One of the UTs (Utility Technician) took us in the dome (I had already been but didn’t get any pics the first time around) and down into the tunnels. The tunnels were easily my favorite part of South Pole, they were amazing. All the sewage pipes run through there so it smells a bit and it’s about -70 F, but it was totally worth it. The humidity from the sewage creates these long strands of ice crystals that sway back and forth can sway back and forth. Then there’s the fish the Russians put down there years and years ago and a pig’s head and a number of other odds and ends people have brought down there.
I definitely crammed some fun into that last day but it was so good to get back to McMurdo. Getting back to a regular altitude felt amazing and when our plane landed at Willy Field at 1am it was snowing big wet sloppy flakes, perfect weather to come home to.
Despite the fact that I was back for Christmas, there is always something inherently depressing about the holiday. There are so many things I loved about Christmas around here: acoustic night at the waste barn, the tow
n Christmas party, dinner at Meghan and Andy’s, etc. But in the end you still hit that lull on Christmas day where you aren’t sure what to do with yourself. Like you should be making the most out of your holiday, going and doing and such, but instead you sit around hungover, alone, watching bad Christmas movies…wishing you were anywhere else…again...or maybe that's just me. I think it’s like that part of the morning when you’re a kid and you’ve opened all your Christmas present and all the surprises and your stocking-candy-induced sugar high are over. Not to say Christmas wasn’t good, I got to have brunch with Ken and Emily and hung my chandelier I had been working on for so long. I put in a four hour nap and ended the day watching movies with some friends before heading into a four day work week….so it was no Christmas at home in front of the fireplace at home but it was a pretty good one. 
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