Hanging Out

Testing Out the Darth Vader Mask - Twin Otter in the Background

So, reports from teams at 89 and 86 degrees South indicate white-out conditions there at the moment. For some reason, our pilots are reluctant to try and land when it is impossible to tell the difference between the air and the ground. We will call for another report an reassess in a few hours, but at this point it may be at least tomorrow before we are good to go. All three teams waiting to go are hanging out in the mess tent drinking coffee, reading and talking. (David is sitting in a chair with his sunglasses on, sleeping.). I proposed a couple of songs for our team anthem that I played for them on my mini speaker. Both "Everything is Awesome" and "I Want to Move It, Move It" were shot down by Zack, so it looks like we are going with "The Ride of the Valkyries" instead.

The wait also gives me a few minutes to report a few other amusing incidents from the last couple of days: When we first got to Union Glacier, everyone headed to the mess tent for lunch. The leader of another expedition was looking for a team member named Vireole, but what she said to me was "Excuse me, are you virile?" While. I don't always rise to the occasion when given such a perfect straight-line, this time I did okay, responding with "Yes, but we've just met, shouldn't we talk a little first?" When I told this story to Zack, he said "Only in Antarctica can you get this level of service!"

The other thing of note is how hard it is to keep track of all your many pieces of clothing and other gear, especially when you are bundled up and wearing bulky gloves. Even in the tent, though, David and I have spent considerable time tracking down one item or another - thermal underwear, hats, socks, goggle cases, etc., etc. Our conclusion is that before hiking over to the mess tent or rummaging in the pulk (sled) for a second time, you should first look under your butt, since usually we have wound up up finding that we were sitting on the missing item... Based on my experience from many other trips, it takes two or three days to work out a system, but once you do, and everything has an assigned place, this sort of thing happens a lot less often. Here's hoping, anyway.

Update: the latest reports indicate that conditions are still bad near the Pole. We are going on a short excursion to a geological formation called the Elephant's Head. Next weather check is at 1730, with takeoff at 2000 if conditions improve...