"Conquest Syndrome"

Ah yes....The good old days! BACK WHEN SHIPS WERE MADE OF WOOD AND MEN WERE MADE OF STEEL.

This ad was placed in The London Times in 1914 by Sir Earnest Shackleton, recruiting men for his epic Endurance Expedition.

The plan was to traverse the entire Antarctic continent via the South Pole. Disaster struck this expedition when their ship became trapped in the ice and was slowly crushed before the shore parties could land. The crew escaped by camping on the sea ice for the rest of the winter. After many months of waiting for the sea ice to melt and break apart, the harve-starved crew rowed their life boats 720 nautical miles to the nearest inhabited island off the South American coast. Shackleton did not lose a single man. He embodies the spirit of survival and determination against the harshest of conditions.

Shackleton was knighted for his many conquests in Antarctica 100 years ago. Although he is one of the principle figures of the "Heroic Age" of Antarctic Exploration, his life was restless and unfulfilled. He died in relative obscurity, leaving heavy financial debts in his wake.

As someone who personally struggles with restlessness and unfulfillment, Shackleton's story tugs at my heart strings. It is a somber reminder that my conquests on earth can fade as quickly as the sea ice can melt. I have wandered the world for over a decade, and none of my earthly adventures will every bring me fulfillment. My only true adventure is chasing my Heavenly Father and eventually exploring my permanent home in Paradise. 

I wonder if Jesus will let me blog in heaven?

Hark Those Heavenly Sunsets!

Being a flippant, fast-paced Millennial, I was never one to weep over a sunset. But the fairy-tale sunsets of Antarctica can bring out the sappy romantic in ANYBODY.

Bizarre; deceptively peaceful; gravity-defying….the Antarctic sun never sets from September to February. It scandalously flirts with the horizon line as it arcs in a sideways pattern across the sky. Around midnight, that Saucy Sun starts to tease us again. She slowly dips down to kiss the mountains, shining brighter and more tantalizing than before, threatening to disappear forever. But as a Femme Fatale will do, she changes her mind and floats back up to her ethereal throne (around 2am) and burns down in judgement upon us all.

During the summer months, the Sun Minx tires of fraternizing with us mere mortals. She remains high over our heads in her glowering superiority of light, never to sink again. Or so she would have us believe….

In March we see traces of her evil enemy, Winter, as he creeps up to attack her white kingdom. She begins to dip back down to earth filled with rage as she desperately tries to cling to her throne. During the month of May we watch, helpless, as the Treacherous Winter completely topples the Saucy Sun Minx off her royal axis. Gone forever. Or so Winter would have us believe….

Will we never see our Burning Enchantress again?

This great battle of Light and Dark, has been fought since the beginning of time. And while we are in awe of these two equally opposing forces, we remain grateful for an even higher Force that orchestrates this battle. Our Heavenly Father graciously administers perfect doses of change and consistency to this world. We know that the sun will set every day just as we know it will rise. But morning is completely different from evening. God desires that we might enjoy a predictable daily regimen of pursuing Him. Yet He fills that regimented day with variety and surprises so that we might marvel at His workmanship.

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
-C.S.Lewis

A 2am Fairy Wonderland

They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs; You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy. Psalm 65:8

The fleeting, side-ways Antarctic sunsets make my big Texas heart want to burst with glee. They only occur during the month of October which is Antarctica's short spring. Around 2am they are at their most dramatic.

Do You Take Sugar With Your Tea?

Today was one of the coldest days I have ever experienced. The snow was blowing sideways, and technically I was standing upside down on the planet.....time to play!

Most of us have seen the documentary Antarctica: A Year on Ice. 

Being the scientific genius that I am, I decided to improve upon that documentary (plus I was bored at work).

These are the effects that the extreme cold weather can have on a cup of boiling water.

Learning to Speak "McMurdo"

Like the military, McMurdo Station is obsessed with acronyms and nick-names. When I first arrived, I thought people were speaking a foreign language.

“Hey FNGi (F***ing New Girl). Get your ECW checked in. Then go past DJ and head to 155 for an OST. After that check your house-mouse schedule in 211, and then head up to ATO to get your mid-rats card.”

Me “WTF?”

And it only got worse….

I spent my first two weeks memorizing hundreds of aviation acronyms for my job. I was lost. I also spent hours going through safety lectures and survival trainings. I was cold. How do these yahoos expect me to ingest all this information so quickly? I was tired.

But like any foreign language, if you fully immerse yourself, you start to pick up bits and pieces. And soon you are spitting out the new language yourself.  That is the evolution of language fluency.

A typical conversation at work:

“The AOPB does not reflect a new mission in PL, so we need to change the AZM flight to ZSP”

Me “Do I need to create a new PAX manifest and combine it with the Cargo FSM and send out a new DEP?”

In less than 4 weeks, I became fluent in “McMurdo.”

One Small Step for Kelly; One Giant Leap for Kelly's Ego

These are the first few giddy seconds of my first encounter with Antarctica. We are disembarking from the C-17, and setting foot on the sea ice runway.

I apologize for the shakiness of the camera. I am not a good photographer. (Also it is really hard to film in 15 layers of clothings, wearing 6 pairs of gloves and trying not to fall down the stairs of the hatch).

Dorm Life

McMurdo Station has about 10 dormitory buildings. Everyone must share a room with at least one other person (unless you are British Royalty, a U.S. President, a National Science Foundation VIP, or someone who never bathes, you WILL have a roommate). Male and female communal bathrooms are in each dorm.

I have lived all over the world in various housing situations, both sketchy and classy. (5-star hotels, backpacker hostels, apartments, middle-eastern compounds, flea-bag bungalows, high-rise condos, one-dollar-a-night huts, palatial houses, hammocks, castles, houseboats, tents, quonset huts, and my car). However, all those living situations were somewhat temporary, which made any roommate situation bearable.

But this was completely different….Sharing a room?? Living in close quarters with a bunch of strangers for 6 months?? (There’s a reason why I never joined the Navy….I hate submarines)

It has been 12 year since I experienced dormitory lifestyle. And as much as I loved the good old dorm days at The University of Texas, I am an eccentric, 32-year-old prima donna who is used to her own space. I am notorious for having a plethora of face and body products haphazardly strewn over any available surface area in a bathroom.

I suppose I am not the easiest person to live with. (Please pray for my current roommate and my future husband).

The lucky lady who was assigned to my room was 29-year-old Stephanie from Michigan. She is one of our 18 vehicle operators at McMurdo Station. Steph is WONDERFUL. She is a patient, gentle soul, and I knew she would be a great roommate from the start. We have completely opposite schedules. I work the night shift from 6pm to 5am, and she works the day shift from 6:30am to 5:30pm. The only time I see her is when I am stumbling into bed after work, she is waking up and dressing for work. And vice versa. We exchange mutually sleepy high-fives and briefly discuss the current weather conditions (AKA, “Here is how you need to dress today so that you won’t die”). No one cares about the news or current events in Antarctica, just weather.

Since McMurdo Station operates 24/7, people sleep round the clock. Unlike college dorms, McMurdo dorms are mandatory quiet zones. We are spared the typical Thursday-to-Saturday-night shenanigans so prevalent in college dorms. Despite looking like the 1970’s threw up on them, these dorms are havens for quiet and solace for us tired penguins.