Sad Day In Antarctica.
23 May 2009 | Ross Island, Antarctica
Dark and cold
Last night, at about 9Pm we received word that the Kiwi A-frame was burning down and it was to far gone to risk injury to put it out. What is the Kiwi A-frame you ask? Well, It is an A-frame hut, lodge, house, that was available for us to use on weekends to get away. The A-frame was located about 6 miles from station, out on it's own little point of Ross Island. It had a great view of mount Erebus and the ice shelf. It had no electricity or running water, warmed by a oil fed heater. Very rustic and quaint. It only slept 7 people, and that was in sleeping bags, no beds. It wasn't the Hilton by any means, it was better. It was the Kiwi A-frame. It's gone now, probably, to never be rebuilt. A sad day in Antarctica.
The loss of the a-frame was kind of a topper to a long strange week. The effects of the cold dark night, that just won't end, have come out in force this week. Everybody is walking around looking blurry eyed and pale. Tempers have grown short. Irritability seems to be the norm. We all know what this is and understand if somebody is short with you or pissy , even augmentative, it's just the darkness, don't take it personal. I feel like I've been walking around in a daze, not quite able to wake up all the way. Time seems to be flying by at an unreal pace. Things I did last week seems as if it was this morning. Strange very strange. At least time is passing quickly, but at the same time I feel like I'm loosing those precious minutes, hours, days. They're passing to quick to even realize they were there.
This may all sound very depressing, but I'm not at all depressed and the community as a whole is not at all depressed. I'm having as much fun as possible. I'm active in a lot of stuff here. I'm healthy. I'm just experiencing some things that are strange. It's amazing how the human mind reacts, behaves in adverse conditions. It all just gives me more and more respect for the men that came to this Continent during the age of discovery and exploration. They were truly a hardy sort.
Cheers everybody. Here's to Peace , Love and Sunshine!
W