Hemingway at WinFly?

Where's Hemingway when you need him? I suppose if he were here, Earnest Hemingway would start with the plump orange sitting on my desk. I can smell it. It glows seductively in the lamp light, but I will not eat it. Not yet. It's my last one, and I am unwilling to part with it.

Antarctica has been sealed tight since February. No ships have visited Ross Island, southern-most port in all the world. And no pilot sane enough to get his pilot's license has flown here. That is, not until one pilot brought me three bananas and three oranges, the most precious cargo he ever carried.


PEGASUS RUNWAY ON THE ICE (Dani's shot)

Each year in late August, a few planes try to land on the Ross Ice Shelf. They cannot refuel, and leave their engines running. A nervous hour spent on the ice looking for storm fronts, then they depart, gray specks racing the setting sun. These special flights are called WinFly, and the first one successfully dropped off oranges on Saturday. I've enjoyed its company, this last orange of mine. It has reminded me of things forgotten, of colors, of sweet smells - of rain and trees.

Seeing those runway lights suddenly blinking in the distance was strange; floating there in the darkness. It was stranger though when we finally saw that plane coming in. We must have spotted it a good 80 or 90 miles out.

But now back to my orange. Fresh food is not something you want to eat quickly after six months of frozen food. For one thing, you're likely to spend the entire night in the bathroom. I had one banana, waited three careful hours, and tried my first orange. It was seedless:) But WinFly is about more than oranges. Certain science can only be done in August, during the return of the sun.



No one here has seen the sun yet. Our first "day" lasted just a few minutes. The top of the sun edged over the sea, but was hidden from view by fog. At about the same time, that first plane landed at Pegasus. Twenty five scientists have arrived to study the ozone hole and the "circumpolar" air currents unique to Antarctica. They'll be launching helium balloons soon that will carry scientific equipment around the entire continent.

And how big is Antarctica?


(THIS BIG. Here is Antarctica superimposed over the United States.)

WinFly is also used to rotate personnel. Only 70 of us will be remaining from the winter crew. The rest are heading home, and we wish them well. We have shared something rare, and many phone numbers have changed hands. The station cannot function with just 70 weather-worn, exhausted zombies at the wheel though. Runways have to be scraped, buildings heated, storm damage repaired, and vehicles dug out in preparation for the summer season. 1200 souls will pour into McMurdo in October. We'll have to be ready for the planes that stop here on their way to the South Pole. There's a neutrino detector to finish, two miles beneath the ice cap. There are meteorites to find, fish with anti-freeze in their blood, penguins to chase with rectal thermometers. It's going to be a busy summer.

And so, WinFly has brought us some much-needed help. New faces now crowd the passgeways and the galley. Tan faces, so orange they look burnt to us. It's really strange turning a corner and seeing someone you don't know. The winter-overs are having a hard time with culture shock. We feel like rude strangers have invaded our home and used our showers without asking. It's a little much, and many of us have taken to staying in our rooms in our off hours, just till we adjust to what can only be described as overwhelming chaos.

My roommate Tyler (everyone shares rooms now) is having just as hard a time as I am, so don't assume I'm just being antisocial. We're ALL having to adjust. (Not something I ever imagined though.)

WinFly brought something else too. This being the 50th winter here, special coins (each individually numbered) were made and sent down on the first flight. 19 extras were made for the Kiwis over the hill at Scott Base. Additional coins were also made for the families of those who spent that first impossible winter here in 1956. Here is my coin, number 37:


The back of the coin is a picture of McMurdo Station as it looked in 1956. The coin turned out better than I could have hoped. How lucky that my winter here happened to be the 50th!

Well, that's enough for now. No Antarctic Explorer Of the Week. I've taken too long to write, and can't fit everything in. Instead, I'll break this update in two, and send you the rest in just a few days. One quick note: The temperature went from a wind-chill of 112 BELOW ZERO to 8 degrees ABOVE zero in less than three days! The golf ball measured winds of 117 miles per hour.

Goodnight from the bottom of the world.

UNITED STATES ANTARCTIC PROGRAM

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