Nacreous Winfly

We are well into Winfly now. We have had four flights come down, raising our population from 153 to over 500. It feels very crowded and crazy now, though I have to keep in mind that the McMurdo population can top 1200 in the summer. Yikes.

If it weren't for the freshies, it would be tough. We've had fresh salads, pineapple, bananas, and kiwi fruit. I've been gorging on it after seven months of frozen yuck food. I feel healthier already.

Along with the "orange people" (winterovers' term for the loud, tanned invaders) and freshies, we've been having some nice nacreous clouds lately. I took these on a trip back to Mac Town from Pegasus, where I was installing a new antenna on one of the air traffic control buildings. It was -47F out there at the time, and a little breezy. I ended up having to fiddle with some cold metal hardware for a long time, and I got really cold. It took me hours to thaw out. I froze some more today-- NOAA is having problems with some of their satellite equipment, and I had to go up on top of a building to check it out. It was -20F and HOWLING wind. I got an "ice cream headache" just from the wind on my forehead. I have about five weeks left on the ice, and I'm hoping I don't have to get that cold again.