3 November--No Man is an Island?

Well, maybe no man is an island, but it's beginning to feel a bit like a very small island here, rather than a continent.  Yeah, I know that we're on Ross Island and technically it's an island off the coast of the continent.  It's sort of reminiscent of our house exchange to Tahiti.  After being wined and dined by the French couple for two days, we took a drive around the island by ourselves on our first full day there alone.  We were done by mid afternoon and we looked at one another and asked,"What do we do for the next 3 weeks?"  I feel very lucky to be driving out several miles in one direction and 2 miles in the other, as well as up to the hill that overlooks town.  But that still constitutes a very small island, in the bigger picture of things.  A very small island indeed.



Twin Otter

 Following the severe weather of the last 2 days, the open water is now 11 miles from the Ice Runway.  Apparently that's a rather rapid recession of the ice.  It might force an earlier move to Pegasus Airfield.  That would entail a 45 or 50 minute drive each way, rather than the 6 or 7 minute drive now.  On the other hand, it would mean open water with whales, seals, and penguins.

There are some interesting forms emerging as the snow starts to melt and the wind dusts it with volcanic dust.  Beauty covered with dirt. Dirt: part of nature's artwork.  Ephemeral ice needles.