Wind chill: -42.7F (-41.5C)
Wind speed: 13 knots
We had a small heat wave two days ago with it getting as warm as -13F! It was excellent timing as I woke up and realized that it was colder in my Jamesway than it had ever been and my light wasn’t working. I dressed quickly in the dark and made my way to the main station where there seemed to be organized chaos with several people dressing and working urgently. There had been a power outage and we were now running on back-up generators while they fixed the problem. The power was only down for 45 minutes as we have very skilled engineers and maintenance crews, but it served as a reminder as to how vulnerable we really are at the South Pole. The Jamesways are now fully occupied and aren’t on any back-up generators. It would only take a few hours for them to become bitter cold, uninhabitable, and create dangerous situations with the limited shelter areas. Most people slept right through the chaos. For all of us it gave great comfort knowing we have excellent people who continue to make this place run on this harsh continent.
(Galley Crew, L-R) Will, me, Carol, Leah, James Brown, Michelle, Joel, Francie (missing: Eli, Laura, Jake, Nicole)
Thanksgiving at the South Pole is celebrated like any other family celebration, with lots of food and wine! Everyone in the galley worked especially hard to make this holiday feel as close to home as possible. Turkey’s were cooked throughout the week in three different ways, traditional roast, deep fried, and smoked. I was as surprised as you to find out we had a smoker here. It’s an outdoor, medium-sized, portable smoker that held 4 turkeys at a time and the wood was flown in with our usual supplies. Just as all of us have our own family traditions, I’m quickly finding that most returning Polies have their own traditions as well. One gentlemen stops in the kitchen every year and carves up all the turkeys. The rest of the galley crew was busy making roast vegetables, green bean casserole, real (no flakes here) mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, and salad. Earlier in the week, volunteers stopped in and made apple, pumpkin, and pecan pies. We served appetizers of baked brie, shrimp cocktail, and baguettes with olive and sun-dried tomato tampenade.
Several people volunteered and decorated the dinning area to create a more formal atmosphere. The windows were blocked out to appear night-time, real linens were used, lights were dimmed, candles lit, and servers poured wine and dished pie. In the galley, we were chaotic but well orchestrated as all of us struggled to find space to prepare what we were assigned. I was in charge of the roast vegetables, cranberries, salad, and whip cream. We made massive quantities of food for 3 separate dinner seatings. I, along with everyone else, was exhausted but it was the type of exhaustion that comes with immense pride and satisfaction. The toast for each meal really summed it up. It went something like this: “Today we give thanks and celebrate all of our families back home as we celebrate with our new family away from home. We also toast those who pioneered this new frontier as they were setting up the first research station at the South Pole 50 years ago in which Thanksgiving marked only day 4. Without the support of our friends and family back home and those first pioneers, we would not be able to be here today to continue the important quest of the international scientific efforts today.” The evening ended with everyone dancing the night away with JB playing DJ.
This year I am thankful for this opportunity and everyone’s unending support! I’m also thankful that my friend, Eli, has made it back to the South Pole healthy and ready to go back to work. I’m thankful that I have so many people caring about me and watching over me at every turn, in person and in spirit.
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