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November 2023
Table of Contents
- 11/05 – Hut Ridge Loop
- 11/06 – Condition Fun – An Introduction to Antarctic Weather
- 11/11 - The Crary Touch Tank
- 11/12 - Castle Rock Loop
- Tidbit - Flag Breakdown
- 11/20 - Mail Call!
- 11/23 - South Pole Overland Traverse – SPOT
- 11/25 - FOOD
Hut Ridge Loop
November 5, 2023
You can do this loop either way, but this trip details the anti-clockwise route.
You start off in town, and need to obtain a radio and check out with the firehouse for this hike. From 155, you head north past the waste barn and continue up the inclined road past a row of MILVAN containers.
A panorama looking forward and backwards towards town. Note Ob Hill on the right side.
Forwards backwards.
For another post.
A 15-foot diameter satellite dish sits inside!
Looking back before a big climb, with the trail highlighted. Note the domes to the right.
A steep climb to the last dome before you turn around and head down.
From a ways up, you can see Discovery Hut and Hut Point.
Some more of those geodetic markers I mentioned, along the way.
Looking back up the ridge.
Discovery Hut, with downtown McMurdo and Ob Hill in the background.
Condition Fun - An Introduction to Antarctic Weather
November 6, 2023
For the sounds of wind from indoors during harsh Antarctic weather, click the above player. Headphones recommended.
Monitoring weather on the ice is a very vital part of operations there, but for outdoor weather at a glance you take a look at the current Condition. Given the variability of weather in Antarctica and the ability for weather to change in a very short timeframe, being able to get an idea of what conditions may be like and what outdoor restrictions may or may not be in effect is easier than knowing the specifics.
McMurdo Station uses three states: Condition 3, Condition 2, and Condition 1. These categories are broken down based on three criteria: wind speed, visibility, and temperature. From Wikipedia:
| Condition | Criteria | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Condition 3 / Normal Condition 3 |
Must meet all of the following criteria:
|
 |
| Condition 2 / Severe Condition 2 |
Must meet all of the following criteria:
|
 |
| Condition 1 / Severe Condition 1 |
Must meet one or more of the following criteria:
|
 |
With each condition level, there are certain restrictions on outdoor activity put in place to keep people safe. From Chapter 10 of the 2024 Field Manual for the U.S. Antarctic Program:
Condition 3: Unrestricted travel and activity are allowed.
Condition 2: Restricted pedestrian traffic only between buildings is allowed. Vehicular travel is allowed if radio equipped, enclosed vehicles only, and check out is required.
Condition 1: Severe weather is in progress. All personnel must remain in buildings or the nearest shelter.
I've made a chart to break it down visually. You can see that both wind and temperature have the most leeway before Condition 2 is called, whereas Visibility is of greatest concern.
I've been told that "Condition 3 doesn't mean good weather, it just means 'safe for now' weather." A good 90% of the summer season is spent in Condition 3, but the difference in temperatures and especially wind speed did mean the difference between some light layering and bundling up.
That bit about "All personnel must remain in buildings" holds true even while in town, and doesn't offer exceptions for things like eating – it was recommended, especially at the shoulders of mainbody, for those who lived in dorms outside of Building 155 (the building with the Galley) to keep some food in their bedrooms in case the weather ever prevented them from making a mealtime. When it hit Con 2 in town, you would notice more people wrapping plates or pocketing Grab 'n' Go items to take back with them in case the weather got worse. It almost reminds you of the old addage "it's time to get the bread and milk" when it starts to snow.
Condition 2 as viewed from Building 140, which houses shuttles and the post office.
If you're cold, they're cold. Bring them inside.
I'll stop rambling now and share all of the cool photographs, videos, and sounds I took during Conditions 1 and 2. Most of the videos have sound, and beware of the fact that some of them are loud in the wind. I have more gnarly weather that came at the end of the season, but I'll save that for a later post. Enjoy, and I'll catch you on the flip flop.
Condition 2 in town, as viewed from the west side of Building 155.
Driving to Willy in Con 2. The blurry objects passing by are flags that mark the road.
Willy's Main Street and the Galley in Condition 2.
Looking out the back door towards the skiway ramp after Condition 1 is called.
Compare these videos of the same view, taken over the course of the day.
Thank you indeed to the SAR team.
The Crary Touch Tank
November 11, 2023
The touch tank is part of the Crary lab indoor study tanks for the creatures that live in Antarctic waters. Seatwater is pumped directly into the water tanks here in Crary to simulate the environment of these critters, where they can be studied up close and in a more accessible environment.
The touch tank, full of critters.
One of the larger study tanks.
The Antarctic soft-shelled clam (Laternula elliptica).
The salmon anenome (Isotealia antarctica).
The giant Antarctic isopod (Glyptonotus antarctica).
Seastar (Diplasterias brucei).
Another seastar (Odontaster sp.)
Some kind of Antarctic fish! I couldn't get a confident ID.
Some kind of invertebrates, presumably of the same species but also not listed in the ID book.
Some big creepy-crawlers, the Antarctic sea spider (uncertain on species). These fellas are as large as dinner plates.
Below are the pages from the ID book, with some additional reading.
Castle Rock Loop
November 12, 2023
This is a hike for which you need to file an eFoot Plan with the fire station - this is simply a plan that lets them know who you are, who you are with, what hike you plan to do, and your estimated time of return (ETR). If you don't check back in with the firehouse by the time of your ETR, they first give you a phone call and then your contact number. If within five minutes after your ETR you still haven't showed up, the search and rescue (SAR) team is mobilized to try and find you.
The trail starts much the same way as Hut Ridge Loop and shares the same path out of town. When you come across this sign, you instead continue to the right rather than to the left.
Looking forward.
Looking backwards towards town (Can you spot Observation Hill?).
While you are meant to plan for weather, carry your own extreme cold weather gear, and pack your own food and water for the hike, these apples are also supplied with things like blankets, first aid kits, a fire extinguisher, and toilet paper should you be caught in poor weather and need to shelter in place for a while.
Just outside of Apple 1 looking forward, Castle Rock pokes its head out above the ridge.
It's about here that you can look to the northeast and see both LDB Site and Williams Airfield as tiny specks on the ice shelf.
Castle Rock sits ahead, still dwarfed by Mount Erebus.
Since the trail to the top was closed, we admired Castle Rock from below and soaked in the Antarctic scenery. It's about here where you really feel like you're on a different planet, as you are well outside of town and can see parts of southwestern Ross Island, which isn't something people working in town see on the regular.
Just after the wind started to pick back up.
Black flags mark a hazard, immediately to the left and right of the trail.
Thanks for reading!
Flag Breakdown
This is a very brief post on the flagging system for McMurdo station.
Green means good, no apparent hazard.
Red means caution, be wary. This could be soft ice or unpacked snow.
Black means caution, no travel. Immediate hazard such as a crevasse.
These are just a few examples, as flags are pretty much everywhere on the ice shelf and around town to mark different things. You'll note that each one has a pole made of bamboo. This is due to the flexibility and low cost of the material. Flags face the harshest conditions the continent has to offer, year-round. Strong winds regularly break or topple flags and ease of replacement is important.
Mail Call!
2024.11.20
The post office is located in Building 140, which also houses shuttles and passenger services/logistics (the people who get you on the plane home). The addresses for McMurdo, Palmer, and Amundsen-Scott stations are all publically available and are located in the USAP Participant Guide. Each post office is handled by the armed forces and as such are listed as Army Post Offices (APO), meaning rates for sending mail to and from these offices are the same as domestic rates. That's correct, you can send a large flat-rate box to Antarctica for the same price as sending it within the United States.
One of the first things I did in the weeks leading up to my deployment to the ice was put together a care package and send it to myself ahead of time. This way, I could save on some luggage weight by shipping things like soaps, shampoos, toothpaste, and snacks down through the mail. Liquids (hot sauces and shampoos) had to be triple-wrapped to prevent breakage as there is no guarantee of climate control for parcels.
When doing so, ensure they copy the address as listed. The postal worker I went to put in APO-AE (Army Post Office - American East) by force of habit since most of APO mail they sent went to Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa – all of which fall under APO-AE. McMurdo and South Pole station are under the realm of APO-AP (Army Post Office - American Pacific).
When the package is out of your hands, it's in the care of the USPS via an International Service Center (I was told McMurdo and Pole mail routes through Chicago) and eventually the United States Air Force (USAF) or New York Air National Guard (NYANG). It is likely that any package you receive will have been opened and inspected by New Zealand Customs (note the tape in the photo below). I was told that there is a customs training facility in Cheech and they like to use incoming Antarctic mail for practice.
There were at least two instances in 2023-2024 where people wrote to the station as a whole. Thanks Patrick.
Pair this fact with the hierarchy of cargo. On any given flight, certain cargos are deemed more important than others. If an essential item is needed on the next flight down, other items (including mail) will get pushed back. From what I recall, the general hierarchy for cargo (not including personnel) goes:
When your package eventually makes it on a plane and down to the ice, it gets unloaded and sorted at Building 140, where they'll let you know if you've received mail. You can check if you have any waiting parcels by looking on the McMurdo Intranet (seeing your name on that long list of people always brought a wave of excitement). I chose this date for my post on mail because, well over two after mailing it to myself, my self-addressed package arrived!
Postal rates on a blue mailbox as well as a weigh station outside of the mailroom for outgoing parcels.
And all outgoing flatmail received the McMurdo Post Office Stamp as well!
South Pole Overland Traverse - SPOT
2024.11.23
From reddit user The_Borpus.
SPOT, the South Pole Overland Traverse, is a project that aims to reduce the footprint for delivering cargo and fuel from McMurdo station to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Tractors pull fuel in huge bladders and cargo on sleds, along with a few buildings for living, sleeping, and storage, nearly 1,000 miles across the Ross Ice Shelf and the Leverett Glacier.
View from Willy field: SPOT tractors on the horizon, staged with fuel bladders in tow.
Altogether the bladders on one tractor can carry over 20,000 lbs of fuel and save approximately 30 to 40 flights to the South Pole each summer – historically, the LC-130H planes would fly down to the South Pole with more than enough fuel for their return trip to McMurdo station and simply offload the extra fuel. However, poor weather in the summertime can delay and drastically reduce the number of flights that make it to the Pole, raising concern for meeting necessary fuel stores before winter.
That's about all I know about SPOT – below are some links to other looks, videos, and firsthand accounts of people on the SPOT team. Props to them - they were treated like superstars on station from what I saw and they deserved it. With such a remote environment and limited team, everyone has to be multi-talented in order to fill several jobs at once; mechanic, meteorologist, cook, driver, and more.
More Extensive SPOT Resources:
- My Traverse to the South Pole - Firsthand accout by Natalie Brechtel
- South Pole Traverse 2016 - Firsthand account by Forest McCarthy
- Economic Analysis of the South Pole Traverse - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, very good read
- South Pole Traverse re-establishes 1,600-kilometer trail for logistics transport of fuel and materials - USAP, 2008
- South Pole Traverse Wikipedia Page - A little bit more info than here
- Dare to Drive the Dangerous South Pole Traverse - DangerousRoads.com
I urge you to read on, as it's such an interesting topic and impressive solution to such a large challenge I couldn't leave it out. Unfortunately, I wish I knew more about the project as a whole but will leave it to those who know it better.
FOOD
2024.11.25
That's right, it's time.
Bottom line up front: I'm writing this after having finished this post. I do believe it's the longest one to date, and I know there are bits and pieces that fell through the cracks. However, I think this is a comprehensive look at the behind the scenes of food production at McMurdo Station. Enjoy and thank you for reading!
Getting Food to Your Plate
The vessel in January offloading cargo, icebreaker behind.
A supply delivery waiting to be brought into the Galley.
Given that tremendous journey, it's a miracle to me that there's any food variety at all, let alone a 35-day rotating menu with tastes from around the globe. I've always wanted to do the math to see the cost of an average plate at McMurdo.
What's on the Menu
We'll start with the main line: the 155 Galley has eight hot wells for keeping menu items hot, four hot spots for soups or sauces, four cold wells for chilled items and salads, and an area for bread and dessert. The layout for meals was pretty standard and was able to cater to most anyone.
| Number | Food Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soup 1 | Vegetarian Chili |
| 2 | Soup 2 | Chicken Soup |
| 3 | Vegetable 1 | Green Beans |
| 4 | Vegetable 2 | Scandinavian Blend |
| 5 | Bake or Starch 1 | Enchilada Bake |
| 6 | Starch 2 | Egg Noodles |
| 7 | Meat 1 | Beef Stroganoff |
| 8 | Meat 2 | Herb Roasted Chicken |
| 9 | Vegetarian | Mushroom Stroganoff |
| 10 | Plain Protein | Chicken / Black Beans |
| 11 | Chilled 1 | Spinach |
| 12 | Chilled 2 | Bell Peppers / Red Onion |
| 13 | Chilled 3 | Vinaigrette / Italian Dressing |
| 14 | Chilled 4 | Jello |
| 15 | Bread | Country Loaf |
| 16 | Dessert | Vanilla Iced Cake |
- Grab 'n' Go Fridge (more on this shortly)
- "Penguin Pasta" - a spot with pasta and two types of sauces during every lunch and dinner service
- One to two waffle makers, depending on demand
- Panini Press
- Toasters
- Microwave
- Cereal station
- Pizza station
- Deli Corner stocked with meats, cheeses, spreads, and breads
- Cookie box normally stocked with multiple types of cookies
- Popcorn machine
- Tea and Cocoa corner
- Dispensers for water, juices, coffees
- Ice cream machine
Willy Galley had a similar setup to 155 Galley, only smaller. Where 155 served upwards of 900 people during peak season, Willy served the remaining 100 or so as they were out on the airfield working.
| Number | Food Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chilled 1 | Jello |
| 2 | Chilled 2 | Compose Salad |
| 3 | Chilled 3 | Canned Fruit (x2) |
| 4 | Chilled 4 | Canned Salad (x2) |
| 5 | Meat Main | Chicken Tenders |
| 6 | Vegetarian Main | Country Fried Tofu |
| 7 | Starch | French Fries |
| 8 | Vegetable | Brussels Sprouts |
| 9 | Fresh Bread | Focaccia |
| 10 | Dessert | German Chocolate Cake |
| 11 | Willy Chili | Willy Chili |
| 12 | Roller Grill | Hot Dogs / Corndogs |
Willy Chilly was an in-house recipe of beef chili that was available 24/7. It was a staple to Willy Galley, and returners from previous years were excited to have it again. I like the idea of having a hot bowl of something after coming in from cold work on the ice shelf.
2) The variety of food offered year-round is absolute luxury when you recognize where you're eating. Looking at the above list of food items available you would wonder how anyone could complain about the food on the ice, but it happens frequently. Is it the best food on the planet? No, but it's hot, varied (remember that 35-day rotating menu), regular, and at no cost to employees.
I don't want to harp on this point for too long, but having been through the kitchen I feel the need to back up the galley crew on this point. Food is an easy thing to complain about in such a regimented setting like McMurdo - everyone eats, it's an easy common demoninator to talk about and after a while the repetitive nature of frozen vegetables can get to you, sure. However, some of the complaints I've heard or were shared with me could generate no response but a laugh. Some notable complaints:
- We did not have cocoa puffs or any other fun cereals available that morning
- We offered General Mills brand cereal rather than Kelloggs
- There were only three types of cheese in the deli corner
- The spaghetti sauce tastes like tomato soup
- The tomato soup, made from completely different recipe, tasted like the spaghetti sauce from four weeks ago
- "These are the same brownies we had yesterday"
- At least one legitimate temper tantrum from a person not getting a second helping of chicken tenders at lunchtime
The Food Itself
As you can see, not too bad! At worst it's like regular cafeteria food and at best it's a really good meal. I personally never had issue with the food, even if I wasn't the one making it.
The Main Galley
Below is a rough blueprint of the 155 Galley (most names are true but some were made up). It is by no means to scale and done entirely from memory, but all of the base components are there in their respective places:
There's a lot to break down here:
| Number | Room Name | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Club Meat Sweat | Thawing meat up to a week in advance (33° - 41°F) |
| 2 | Cooler | Staging prepped food items for firing (33° - 41°F) |
| 3 | Garde Manger | Storing cheeses, freshies when available (33° - 41°F) |
| 4 | Loading Dock | Receiving food pulls from the Supply team |
| 5 | Walk In Freezer | Storing frozen items, including prepackaged items (0° - 32°F) |
| 6 | Hallway | Staging items for delivery to LDB Site or Willy Field |
| 7 | Baker's Freezer | Small freezer for bakery-specific storage (0° - 32°F) |
| 8 | Baker's Chiller | Small walk-in for bakery-specific storage, staging of baked goods (33° - 41°F) |
| 9 | The Loft | Paper good and additional equipment storage |
| 10 | Pots Room | Cleaning and sanitizing all back of house kitchenware |
| 11 | Cook's Box | Storage of leftovers, staging for Grab 'n' Go (33° - 41°F) |
| 12 | Dry Valleys | Dry and non-perishable good storage (grains, legumes, oils) |
| 13 | Zalad Room | Dedicated to cold line food preparation |
| 14 | Office | Office for Culinary Manager |
| 15 | Deli Chiller | Small storage for deli breads, including gluten free items (33° - 41°F) |
| 16 | Splash Zone | Porter sink and mop bucket storage |
| 17 | Office | Office for Head Chef, Food Services Supervisor, and Food Administrator |
| 18 | Hallway | Additional storage for bulk bakery items, flavourings, and colourings |
| 19 | Galley Proper | Where the magic happens |
| 20 | Bakery | Where the real magic happens |
| 21 | Clerk's Corner | Computer for Food Clerks and additional storage for work snack order items |
| Number | Area |
|---|---|
| 1 | Utensil and Pot Storage |
| 2 | Canned goods and spice storage |
| 3 | Mixing bowls, cambros, lexans |
| 4 | Prep table |
| 5 | Commercial steam kettles |
| 6 | Prep tables |
| 7 | Left: Steam ovens, deep friers, stove Right: Tilt skillets |
| 8 | Left: Conventional ovens Right: Bakers' ovens |
| 9 | Proofing cabinet, stand mixers |
| 10 | Prep tables |
| 11 | Bulk grain storage, food staging |
| 12 | Heating shams for staging |
| 13 | Cooling shams for staging |
The bakery and its ovens.
Looking at the heating and cooling shams.
Looking at Tilt Skillet row.
The main prep tables, through the doorway to Dry Valley and the cooler.
Dry Valley.
Pots room buildup at its worst and the pots room itself.
Looking from the Pots room to the main kitchen.
A reverse of the above shot.
Willy Galley
The kitchen part of Willy Galley is best described as plug-and-play. There were no hard-wired cooking appliances, but rather an assortment of tabletop wares with which to cook a meal on. I often described Willy as a "fun challenge" because part of the day was spent thinking about where and how you could cook your menu items to get everything out on time.
Plug-and-play and EZ-Bake.
90% of Willy Galley's food storage
The outbound shelf for Willy Field and the Willy freezer.
Grab 'n' Go and Expiry Dates
Some Grab 'n' Go items.
If you've looked at all into the food in Antarctica or chatted with anyone who has spent time on the ice, you'll likely have heard that expired food is served extensively on ice. The truth is, yes, a lot of ingredients in almost anything you eat are expired. However, this is the breakdown I was given concerning expired food.
When the food order is placed, none of the food purchased is expired. However, due to the length of time that food may sit in safe storage between May and January (when it arrives on the vessel), some food does arrive to the ice already expired. When food is put into the supply warehouses, it sits there in safe storage until it's needed. However, due to actual demand being different from expected demand, some food items are replenished each year more quickly than they can be depleted. In some cases, far too much of an item is ordered and it sits for years. Since things are pulled for the galley as needed, the oldest is brought out first and this is sometimes very noticeable when you see a food item several years out of date. The oldest food item we saw was a box of grits dated to 2005, older than our youngest chef this season.
Some food is also recycled into soups or bakes, but let me be clear: the six-day limit after the first time that food has been cooked is a hard limit, and no food is stored longer than that. If an item is three days after its initial cook and is turned into a soup, that soup has three days left before it's tossed – recycling that item does not extend its storage life.
Freshies
Freshie onion rings! I had a hard time keeping up with demand but we got it done.
It always felt like a holiday when you walked into the kitchen to find the garde manger packed full to the brim with freshies.
Common Questions
Here are a few questions I have been asked that I wasn't quite sure where to put in this post:
How does McMurdo handle allergens?
Food hygiene was very well practiced from what I saw, and that extends to allergens. When put out on the line, all foods are marked with allergens they may contain, and we kept a careful eye out for these. Any leftovers were also promptly marked with the food item name, its allergens, and its Use-By date. Below are a list of the allergens we watched for:
- N - Peanuts and Tree Nuts
- E - Eggs
- W - Wheat
- D - Dairy
- S - Soy
- SF - Shellfish
- O - Onion
- A - Alcohol
How would someone with dietary restrictions fare at McMurdo? Could you be vegan or vegetarian?
I think it would depend on your restrictions. In short: Vegetarianism is pretty easy, being vegan would be very difficult. In reality, only 1/5 of the hot line items directly contained meat, as starches and vegetables were usually cooked without animal products so as not to cause headache for people with dietary restrictions. However, the vegetarian entrée was usually cooked with either egg or dairy. I knew of at least two celiacs on the ice who managed to make it through without too much issue, and as I mentioned above the deli corner has a number of gluten-free options.
What food items should I bring down?
Most bases are covered aside from specific desires. Bring down your favourite hot sauces (the more the merrier), some of your favourite candies and other snacks, and your favourite teas or coffee. To save on weight, consider mailing these items down ahead of time. One things I'll suggest: consider candies that are fun-sized and can be handed out easily. The best pick-me-up to give to someone was giving a fist bump and then opening your hand to reveal a piece of candy. Just be sure that whatever you pack can make it through New Zealand customs.
Did you ever run out of food?
We never ran out of food but very often we would run out of ingredients, and this goes two ways. Sometimes, we would run out of an ingredient and would have to wait until the next food pull to replenish it. Food pulls happened once a week when the supply team delivered everything that was ordered. Substitutions were made or portions reduced if we felt we would run out of something before the resupply.
This happened every week or two, business as usual.
The last Krusteaze waffle, shortly before being enjoyed by a firefighter.
Pizza! Yes, there was a pizza station that ran during lunch and dinner mealtimes (including Midrats) on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays for my season on the ice. In years past, I was told that pizza was a 24/7 operation during mainbody. In my two weeks before being pulled to Willy, I personally tossed over 500 pies during lunch hours – people liked to grab their plate and fill it with lunch, then cruise by the pizza station to put a slice on top in what we called the "McMurdo Garnish".
We never stood a chance. The Frosty Boy was broken for over three months before replacements came in on vessel. Apparently they were long overdue for replacement, and got an upgrade to Spaceman. There was a funeral held on the loading dock, with full honours.
Goodbye to our heroes Frosty Boy and Flavour Boy.
Yes, these were called Action Stations and they happened sparingly throughout the season (I believe our kitchen had a lower number of cooks than previous years, so these action stations weren't as regularly offered). Every morning, there was the Egg Line, an action station where you had fresh or cartoned eggs made to order. I personally saw (at different times) a Mac and Cheese station with optional mix-ins, a Burger bar, and a Wings station with choice of sauces. In years past I've been told of burrito stations.
Were there any attempts to "shake up" mealtime to keep things interesting?
Absolutely. Every Tuesday was Taco Tuesday, where we served Mexican-style foods (even at Willy field) complete with a build-your-own nacho bar with toppings. Every Friday was Steak night, and people certainly lined up for that. Every Sunday had brunch, complete with chips, dips, an action station for pancakes or french toast, egg line, a meat carving station, and a cheese mirror platter. I was one of the few lucky cooks to have Sundays off (being out at Willy), so I could enjoy brunch with a tinge of guilt as I saw my fellow galley members working on the busiest galley day of the week.
French toast for Sunday Brunch and soon-to-be refried beans for Taco Tuesday.
Both Thanksgiving and Christmas were celebrated with above-and-beyond meals on the nearest Sunday to their actual date. By above and beyond I mean it - full tablecloths, reserved mealtimes, beverage tickets, special placards, the works. What were two days of relaxation for the rest of the station were the two busiest days for the galley. Both of these days had several weeks of planning the galley, and each galley worker had to work 12-hour days instead of the usual 10 to pull them off successfully. Like Sundays, I was spared the torture of Thanksgiving and Christmas and instead volunteered a few hours so as to lend a helping hand where needed. To list the menu items for each of these days would lengthen this already too-long post, so if you can imagine eating it on Thanksgiving or Christmas, it was probably there. Lots of desserts.
Gobble gobble.
First and second thanksgivings – one was with the Galley crew, one was with the Seal Team.
Christmas dinner.
Not a food question but something that came up with people both on and on the ice. This is a tricky question to answer, because there are a lot more objectively difficult, technical, and dangerous jobs on the ice. I think what people (even on station) meant when they asked this question was whether or not we worked the hardest out of anyone on station. Again, I'd probably disagree but it's impossible to ignore the fact that the kitchen work was the most steady of the high-pace/intensity jobs on station.
Even on days with poor weather where other work teams were socked in, the kitchen ran at full force because no matter what, everyone has to eat and that can't be delayed. Meals have to go out on time every single day without pause, regardless of outside factors. I think therein lies the difficulty – there was never any break for the kitchen, where other work teams may have down time in their day or the rare unexpected time off. Pairing this with the fact that the galley crew worked offset hours (as opposed to "town hours": 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM) and that fewer than five galley workers (myself included) had Sundays off, you start to see why working in the galley could be difficult. The nature of the work itself isn't too bad, but the external factors that slightly separate you from the rest of town are certainly felt.
Botanical Resources
- NC State Dendrology
- 2024 Flora of the Southeastern U.S.
- Merlin Bird ID, Cornell University
- ILEX Study Tool for Tree ID
- FloraQuest
Suggested Reading
- A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold
- Silent Spring, Rachel Carson
- American Canopy, Eric Rutkow
- Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Gathering Moss, Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Exploring Southern Appalachian Forests, Drs. Steph Jeffries and Tom Wentworth
- Regarding Willingness, Tom Harpole
- Ice Bound, Dr. Jerri Nielson
- Endurance, Frank Worsley
- Turn Left at Orion, Dan Davis and Guy Consolmagno