Dawn in Antarctica

There is no daily routine in the field, at least not this field season.  The range of things I did was huge.  Some things fall into the “keep camp going” category, some into “preparing to do science”, some “doing science”, some “entertainment” and some “personal care”.  I’ll give a few examples of each. Keep Camp Going When you stay out in a harsh environment for long periods of time, there are numerous tasks that have to be done to keep the tents up and healthy, people fed and healthy, and the environment clean and healthy.  Here are some of these tasks: Check (and tighten if necessary) guy lines on tents - every couple of days and every time the wind blows hard Sweep tent floors - variable depending on the tent and how much dirt is tracked in.  The dive tent floor was swept every day to keep the water that drips off the dive gear down at one end.  The lab tent was swept twice or so during the whole field season Fill water jugs and carry them up to the kitchen tent - average

I'm back in New Zealand after a week in McMurdo frantically working to get field gear sorted and returned, plus documenting and organizing field data and ideas while I still had Ian to work with.  I still have lots to say about the trip, so I'll keep posting things about the field work for a while. _____________ I spent a lot of time dive tending while Ian and Dale dove under the lake ice.  There are two essential jobs above the ice when someone is diving: 1) Watching the air levels and communicating with the diver via the control box; and 2) feeding out and taking in the air and communication line.  Sometimes I’d do the air/communication job, particularly when there were numerous scientific notes to take.  This is me taking notes by the yellow coms/air control box.  It was a cold day as you can see by how many clothes I'm wearing even though I was sitting inside the tent.  The person handling the line was standing out in the real cold. Most of the time, however,