Thursday, December 21, 2000

The weather keeps changing today. When I walked to breakfast the sky was filled with wind-driven snow. I thought this was a sure sign that we will have a white Christmas. An hour later it was bright and sunny. At lunchtime, it became very overcast. The temperature dropped to -17 F and the wind chill index to -45 F.

Last night, two men dropped in from Norway. They have traveled from the edge of Antarctica to our camp. You can see their gear in this picture. Their dwelling is just a tent. These two explorers came here with skis that were propelled by sails. They will stay here two nights. As you see in the picture they are camped right next to the pole. They have two pairs of skis for different Antarctic terrain.

Everyone is getting ready for the Christmas season. Several days ago people built beautiful decorated gingerbread houses. Inside the dome, we have a few artificial Christmas trees and a poinsettia in the galley. These items must be artificial as the Antarctica treaty bans the importation of live plants and animals. We are all hoping Santa remembers to come to this pole. As there no plants here, the winterovers (those people who will stay through the winter), bring home here. There is a small snow garden with bright plastic flowers.

Last night was a little disappointing for us in getting the reboot boxes ready. It appears they have a fatal flaw. For some unknown reason, they reduce the voltage to the DOMs and prevent their communication from working. Today, through a very garbled phone-Internet conversation, we discussed the problem with Berkeley Lab engineers. I hope that they have a solution that I can test. It is small race against time, as Berkeley Lab closes for the year on Thursday.

In yesterday's entry, I showed you where I live. There is another nearby dormitory shown in the second picture. This blue structure looks very modern. It is built so that snow drifts under the structure. People who live there say that it has a little more space but is as comfortable as my Jamesway. However, both these accommodations are much more luxurious than the two Norwegian explorers' unheated tent. The hill of snow nearby is man-made. It is just the snow left over from plowing operations. In the background of the picture you can see lots of construction equipment. These trucks are used to build the new South Pole station which is under construction.

I am still not used to the movement of the sun. It just circles around us - oblivious to the time of day. Fortunately, we have watches to tell time.

Next day (The web-translator is taking a few days' vacation. Look for several installments on Dec. 27)
Index for Howard's trip