Antarctic Sports

Softball tournament! Even though last year there were several medevacs following the softball tournament, we were allowed to play again. Someone lost three of their front teeth from a line drive, but other than that, no one got seriously injured this time. Once again, the shuttles team lost by only one point - this time to the fire station. Final score: 14-13. I made one good play - I was the catcher and I caught someone's foul ball. Dad, you would have been proud :)

Playing catcher with about seven layers of clothing on and handwarmers in my gloves. It was VERY cold that day. There were barbecued hot dogs but by the time you took your first bite, the meat was already nearly frozen. Still, it was a great time!

Here I am playing soccer, and not very well might I add. It doesn't help that the population on station is only 25% women and often I was the only woman on the court (each team had only one woman). Most of the time I was playing with young men whose only goal was to WIN. I just wanted to have fun :(  Think I'll stick to country and salsa dance lessons and running. Antarctica is one of the few places where women never have to worry about having a dance partner or being a wall flower at dance lessons.

Wowee, I am on a three-day Christmas vacation now! It is so nice to have a little time to clean, do laundry, check email, sip coffee and stare into space, read, and maybe even nap. What luxury!

Scott is still doing a stellar job out at AGAP and there is talk of him perhaps heading up the premier field camp next year - one having to do with dinosaur bones out near the Beardmore Glacier. We'll see what happens with that.

He was not happy the last few times I talked to him though because our pipes froze in Montana when the temps dipped way below zero. It wasn't catastrophic because Elizabeth was there to take care of things, but you all know how much time he put into building that house and how upsetting the news must have been. As Ben would say, Scott had on his "ranger face" for a few days ;)

There are lots of activities going on this weekend, so I will post pics again soon. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas! We miss all of you!