Antarctica: A Year on Ice Page #4

And I thought this is

either what it looks like

if aliens are about

to abduct you.

and almost like you feel like

you could reach up and touch it.

Or if you're a person

who believes in Heaven...

maybe this is what you see

when you go to Heaven.

I'm not sure,

but it was really an emotional

life-changing experience for me.

I mean I really found myself

not realizing I'd done it.

When I figured out

where my body position was

I was actually on my knees

and I was crying.

Like that's how beautiful

it was to me.

It's the month of June

and right now

it's the middle of the day.

I grew up in a very rural area

so I could see

the stars very well.

...In rural Minnesota.

And I've been in the mountains

and, you know, Colorado.

And I thought

wow the sky looks beautiful.

But I never knew a star

could flash like...

fluorescent pink...

fluorescent green...

fluorescent blue...

white...

just in that rotation.

just blink-blink-

blink-blink-blink.

One star like...

it looks like a strobe

light to me.

There's a lot of them that look

like a strobe light up there.

And you would never know...

you'd never know...

what the sky looks like.

It's wonderful.

I loved the 24 hours

of darkness.

Maybe on full moon nights,

and other nights,

I would see the mountains.

But sometimes I'd forget

the mountains were even there.

And so my entire world

was just in the little spaces

and walking around.

It really does

change your perception.

Towards the end of summer,

the thing I was most

looking forward to was

seeing darkness again.

Like I just wanted

to see some nighttime.

And now that it's night time.

I don't really miss the day

that much right now.

We have three dinners

here each year.

Of course our sunset

now at the midwinter,

and as we all know

that sun rise isn't far away.

So I'd like you

to charge your glasses

and to friendships

and long-lasting friendships.

Thank you.

Cheers!

Cheers!

It's very cool that there is

a unique holiday in Antarctica

that people from all

over the world celebrate

and we send greetings

to each other,

and good will to each other,

and remember the history

that brought us here

in the first place

and the goals

of what we're up to

here in the first place.

And it's just...

it's wonderful.

I really liked

the mid-winter time.

Oh God.

Well, that woke me up.

Come on, Brody.

Do it. Do it.

Do it.

How is it?

Cold.

The other day

I came in from outside

and Christine asked me

is it cold outside today?

And I said "Oh no.

It's not too bad."

And then it struck me...

the absurdity

of the conversation

because we're in Antarctica,

It's the middle of winter,

and she's asking me

if it's cold outside.

And secondly it was 40 below.

We haven't seen

the sun for months

and I thought it was a nice day.

So it's fascinating

the way our perceptions

of what we consider normal

have shifted.

Nine, zero, six.

Firehouse

Go for nine, zero, six.

Hey just checking

on the progress

is Scott Base road open again?

That is a negative.

We need 10 more minutes.

Being in this office-type

setting under fluorescents

for the six-day work week,

I think that ended up

being much more...

of a challenge

because I wasn't outside

and doing anything.

Firehouse, Genevieve.

Sure, one sec.

Trying to break out

of that rut of just...

waking...

going to work...

eating...

sleeping...

and doing it all over again.

Firehouse, Genevieve.

A lot of people work

the same thing

every day

and they're not used

to repetitive motions

in their actions.

It can be kind of tiring

just to do

the same thing every day

You have to bring some

spice into it.

Thank you.

Francis, your chef at McMurdo,

we exchange a few.

He brought his mead

and I gave him a bottle,

this mixed nine bottle.

And he says it's a very

good drink.

So well, tell me what you think?

- Cheers.

- L'chaim.

The winter season sets up

and offers more

of an introspective outlook...

where you can

take the time to read

or work on a craft.

There's still times

But I think it really helps

if you can

spend that time alone.

There's no substitute for just

having a good book in your hand.

Andrew Weil.

Now it's a very small

small print here.

Biblical Hebrew.

Grammar of biblical Hebrew.

I knit.

It keeps away the feeling

of stir craziness in the winter

when I just feel like I might

like to tear my hair out

and run outside screaming.

Towards the end of winter

the extreme cold, the fatigue,

and constant lack of sunlight

or any new stimulus

creates a condition

called T3 Syndrome.

Attention all stations,

standby for a severe weather

condition announcement.

The N-S-S...

N-S-F station manager,

has set severe weather

condition one for...

the following locations.

So I work at the store,

and we open every day at 11:30,

and almost every day

this person comes in

and buys something at like

11:
35 or 11:40.

We have the same conversation.

I usually give him

a pack of cigarettes.

And the other day

at about the same time

he comes in and he goes "Wow!

I didn't know

you guys opened at this time.

Have you always been open

at this time?"

And I was like,

"So and so,

you come in every single day.

You buy the same thing

every single day."

And he was just like,

"Wow, I never thought you guys

were open at this time."

and he just kind of

wandered off.

Firehouse, Genevieve.

A couple of days ago

Talie called and I said

"Oh, Talie,

I'm so glad you called.

I was just thinking about...

I was thinking about you.

I was just about to page you."

And she said,

"Well you did page me."

So I had completely forgotten

that I had paged her.

And that seems to happen

more times than not.

There was a time where...

I was... had to go outside

and the chief she

tossed down a pair of boots.

I go ahead and I put them on

and I'm walking around in them

they feel really weird.

I don't know why.

I get to the door of the bay

where I'm leaving and...

and I look down and...

they're on the wrong feet.

So I walk back, I pull them off.

I take the right boot off

and set it down.

And take the left boot off

and set it down.

I pick up the first one

and put it on the same foot

I just had it on

and put on the...

So I had basically

taken them off

and put them back

on the wrong feet

and walked outside again.

I've been coming down here

since '99

so it's kind of...

it's all the same

to me pretty much.

It's gone.

My memory is gone.

I remember trying to call my Dad

at the same phone number

I grew up with.

I couldn't remember it.

I caught myself trying to...

It took me over 10 seconds

to remember if S came before

or after T in the alphabet.

And that was like a sign.

I need to get up

and away from my desk

and get a grip.

Ahhhhh.

Ahhhhh.

I've started saying "Ahhh"

a lot more

than I ever used to

and it's not something

I mean to do.

it's just something that

I use to fill the time

where I never did that before

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