icy night

Our department has gone to 24 hour operations this week. So, the past two days a group of us has been transitioning from a day schedule to a night schedule. It's a strange concept; completely upheaving the body clock and showing up for work at 1800 (6pm) on Monday evening. My shifts will be five 12 hour days. It's a bit easier to do such a strange schedule in Antarctica in the summer when it's light no matter what time you find yourself out and about!

One of the benefits to staying out late is being awake for the fading sunsets and sunrises. We have passed the last official sunset, but that doesn't mean the sun still doesn't occasionally tuck behind the mountains, or peak out on the sparkling sea ice.

While transitioning, those of us who were moving to the new schedule tended to congregate with one another during the mealtimes. Our conversation focused on sleep schedules, transitioning techniques, how and what to eat, and tips for staying bright eyed and bushy tailed. To get us started and kick off another fun and exciting season of flight and cargo movement, our department hosted a party on Saturday evening. The picture is of our cargo bay; cleaned out and set up for our social event of the evening.

Last evening, while staying awake until 8am, we watched a storm move in. Town was eerily calm and slightly snowy most of the night, so Chris and I took a short walk to make snow angels on the Chalet deck. By the time we fashioned our heavenly bodies in the snow and turned to go, the wind began ripping through town. After settling back inside, Condition 2 was announced and we could hardly see the ground outside the window at times!