It's hard to believe how fast this season has gone. The first batch of outgoing summer people leaves tomorrow; the mass exodus will be Feb 7-14. The last few weeks have been a slog, with the holidays behind and Galley conversations mostly focussed on travel plans. The winter folks of course can't wait for us to get out of their way.
We've had some cool science: the ITASE traverse came in, that's an international tractor-pulled caravan of several different science projects in several fields that has spent the last several summer seasons covering different stretches of Antarctica. They're creating a reference for aerial mapping, they've taken ice cores from areas that humans have never visited, they've scanned near-surface ice strata in a continuous swath along their entire path... neat stuff. We've still got our ongoing projects of course. The South Pole Remote Earth Sciences Observatory got several instruments in boreholes and are already gathering data. The Solar Observatory folks got plenty of clear weather for staring at the sun. Did you know that the whole thing vibrates? Well I didn't. Apparently it's on a 5-minute cycle.
There have been a few private expeditions: some successful ski trips; a pair of guys on wind-driven ski buggies who never got further than the end of the skiway because they forgot to allow for altitude when they made their calculations, and didn't bring big enough kites; some tourists; and a French monsignor who celebrated Mass at the Pole. We still officially don't support private groups but at least nowadays they get to come in for a station tour and a hot meal.
I'm still having fun with the job and a little bit of music. We just had the big end-of-season party and I did a few songs with the band. I've been plunking out a few songs on guitar but that's more of a mental relaxation than real serious practice. Today is a nice relaxed Sunday: I'm just off to play volleybag, our local version of volleyball adapted for a really small gym.
I'm scheduled out of here Feb 7. Phew! Soon enough. I hear green things and good sushi calling my name.
Best,
-Sarah