When we first arrived, low temperatures hovered around -30F without windchill. As weeks go by, those numbers keep creeping upwards- now nearly always in the positive. Recently any day that is sunny has created puddles, dripping eaves and icicles, and muddy spots. I even saw some joggers the other day. 
Another sign of spring is the return of our skuas. These scavenging birds are very effective at finding food resources, they know that Building 155 is where the galley is located, anyone carrying out food wrapped for later has to be prepared to keep it from the birds. The first skua of spring was actually spotted flying past on the 4th of November but they didn't really move in to town until a week or so after that. Now they are sitting boldly in the middle of the road or parking area most mornings.
any accident creating more casualties than our local McMurdo hospital can handle, overwhelming the standard local resources. Here, three people with major injuries would actually qualify as an MCI as our hospital only has the full facilities to treat two people with serious injuries. 
there as well as stashes of blankets and other useful items. On two other days we met at the hospital to review emergency treatments, Antarctica-specific issues, and try practice scenarios. Besides the talented staff of doctors and nurses, and the emergency skills of the fire department folks, there are lots of people with helpful emergency medical backgrounds in the general community. 
The volunteers have everything from EMT certifications, to nursing degrees, to Wilderness First Responder certifications and Search and Rescue or Ski Patrol experience. There are also a group of people who have volunteered to be recorders, one for each patient, keeping track of their vital statistics, medications given, evaluations made, actions taken, treatment given, etc. 
around, only needs basic first aid and is stable would be in green. A person with more serious or multiple injuries but whose condition isn't currently life-threatening, who can respond to caregivers, and who can wait awhile for successful treatment would be in yellow. Someone in red is unlikely to be coherent and needs major medical assistance immediately. These colors indicate the patient's priority for medical care. Depending on evaluation and what happens to a patient over time, a patient might move between these categories.
Aircraft represent one of the likliest sources of large numbers of injured people here. This is one of the reasons that such careful weather observations and conservative safety decisions are made. A complicating factor in any MCI will of course be the cold weather and exposure any injured people would be subjected to. 
On Saturday, I got an email telling me that I had mail to pick up! Very exciting since our package mail is held up in New Zealand and boxes sent from the states in August and September still haven't arrived. Only a bit of flat mail is coming through at this point. I just heard that there is 17,000 lbs of package mail cargo in Christchurch on many pallets waiting to come to McMurdo. I hope the packages come before I leave or I'll just be filling out a change of address form to return them all to Anchorage! 
It turned out to be two envelopes, one from Mears Middle School with question postcards embellished with fabulous Antarctic technical drawings, and one from the science department with a great reference book on geology for me! Mrs. Gates from Mears also sent some recent Alaskan newspapers with stories about muskox and mushers to keep me connected with Alaska while I'm so far away. Everyone here is loving the drawings and is very impressed. Here is a sample of the work on the 120 postcards. Oops, I let my bird bias run away with me. 
There were technical drawing of other things, too. Let me try again! :)
The other night I hiked out to Hut Point (where one of Scott's huts is preserved as a historical site) on the ridge trail. There are beautiful views to the north and along the edges of Ross Island but the main thing that struck me was that at the top of every hill crest was another memorial to someone who had died here. There are a lot of crossess and memorials in the McMurdo area. 
I'm also reminded of this truth when I leave my glove off for a few moments to take a picture and the wind hits it full on, making my skin prickle painfully. Only with the extensive planning and support of thousands of people, buildings, power plants, vehicles of all sorts, giant amounts of fuel and cargo, and a great focus on making conservative safety decisions every hour of every day, can we exist here at all. Sitting in my heated office, tapping away on my computer keys, it is very easy to forget what an accomplishment it is for people to be investigating our questions here in Antarctica. 
This photos shows one of the four Big Red bays outside the dining hall.
They are quite comfortable, and well heated. 
ANDRILL is one of 12 science projects currently on ice, and all of them have offices in the Crary Lab. Everywhere you go, people are busy planning for the field, or processing samples or data collected in the field. It is a very exciting place, filled with scientists from all around the world!
People at the SSC are specially trained to teach the scientific teams, and the teachers who accompany them, these important skills.
I love to come here with my friends at night! The coffee house is the venue for movies on Sundays and Tuesday evenings, though I have yet to find time to take in a movie!
There are even two small hammocks to recline in to promote peaceful relaxation.
Before I get back to scientific topics, I have just one more living-in-Antarctica digression. While the general outward look of McMurdo is strictly utilitarian with metal siding and above ground piping dominating most views, the community is also infused with wonderful and creative art. There are gigantic oil paintings in the galley and glossy art photos in the halls of many buildings from the recipients of NSFs Antarctic Artists & Writers program grants. 
My favorite artworks are the quirky and clever pieces by local Antarcticans tucked in unexpected places - the troll under the bridge or the hand silhouette railing in one parking area. 
Mmmmmmmmmmmm humidity and the smell of plants! Not dirt, just plants, because the greenhouse at McMurdo is a hydroponic growing environment. The plants are grown in a liquid nutrient bath rather than soil. Karen Harvey, the greenhouse manager/agrispecialist, gave me a quick tour the other day and I've been back several times since just to be around green growing things. 
The building got its start from a recycled container van and has grown over the years with extra and surplused parts. All of the hydroponic systems have been cleverly engineered from various sizes of pvc tubing. Notice that it doesn't look like a typical greenhouse with lots of window space - in Antarctica, a greenhouse needs to be completely insulated, sealed, and have no windows. 
about our day length and environment)
All the plants grown here are edible, even the flowers (pansies and nasturtiums). There were cucumber plants with their long vines tied to the wall, cherry tomato plants with lots of little green tomatoes, and numerous beds of lettuce and other greens. All the different types of plants get slightly different mixes of nutrients that change as they grow bigger. There is even a small herb garden, used frequently by the galley.
the 200-300 staff that winter over. Now that there are over 900 people here on base, harvesting a bed of lettuce doesn't go as far. My favorite part of the greenhouse are the two hammocks that can be slung between the lettuce beds, letting one swing peacefully in the sun to the sound of running water.
...being an account of the continuing adventures of that rascally monkey from Alaska....
In the core room, George climed up on the long tables and looked at the core in its boxes. He liked the funny earthy smell it 
He didn't want to go the whole way by himself, it had been snowing and windy all day.
Where would you like to see George go next as he explores?
Does a plastic food wrapper go in with plastic bottles or is that considered a burnable item? There are bins for construction debris, computer parts and batteries. At the end of every meal in the dining room, all McMurdo residents even sort out the paper napkins from the food scraps.
