ice ironies

Have I mentioned the backward logic that actually works down here?

First, there are the speed limits:
On the dirt and gravel roads we drive a monotonous 15 mph. Yet, when we reach the ice and snow roads over the Ross Sea, we are able to drive a less modest 25 mph. Back home, I recall slowing down on snow and ice. This rule is actually functional in the sense that our dirt roads ramble through town where more people are present and thus, we have to drive slower.

Second, our Stop signs that mean go:
Well, they may not mean go, but they usually mean yield. And, every vehicle is instructed to yield to any larger vehicle. Since the larger vehicles are more difficult to stop, they take priority. And, since most vehicles can be hard to push along after a stop, especially in mud and snow, it's easier to just roll through those signs. You'll note how seriously we take these signs by how many stickers people have covered it with!

Third, Fleet Operations has as strange way of providing vehicle traction:
In terms of making the ice and dirt less slippery for driving (and walking), rather than putting salt down (that would be introducing too much foreign material to the continent), we put down snow. A mixture of snow and dirt allows the gravely roads to "stick" together better and it fills in the muddy potholes. Out on the ice, snow gives our vehicles more friction on otherwise slick ice! Fleet Ops will send road graders along the Ice Runway Road to make ridges in the ice and spread out snow and ice over the ridges.

Fourth, another traffic note:
When I asked if we were supposed to use our blinkers around town, I received the following response: "You may...if you want to, if they work." Since then, I haven't even tried. When approaching an intersection at the same time as a pedestrian or another vehicle, it's easier to make eye contact and gesture the various directions we are going, and roll through the stop sign. And, as far as road rules go, we don't have "lanes" on the road. Typically, I suppose, I still think in terms of driving on the right side of the road (like I'm sure the Kiwi's think of driving on the left side of the road. However, in reality, the whole road is open and we just drive on the side with the best road conditions.

Fifth, regarding other living organisms down here:
In a place were the average number of showers per person is most likely less than 1 in 3 days, and we hold off on laundry until we can make a full load, we do not have a problem with bugs. Every now and then, I think I see a spider on the ground, or feel a mosquito on my arm, before I realize that they don't live here! It's pretty unbelievable--no pests. So, only in McMurdo will people find aphids in their salad and 1) get excited to see a bug, 2) hope to breed them for more non-native "life" down here, and 3) finish the salad! While I was at lunch, three such bugs were located in our lettuce. Fresh food is such a commodity, that people snatch it up quickly every time it's put out! Nothing like a little extra protein!

Sixth (and lastly for now), the snow:
In a land that is so white with snow and ice, it is ironic that even in the worst snowstorm, snow doesn't actually fall here. What I mean is, the snow blows in from over 1000 miles away. The atmosphere is too dry here to produce snow-bearing clouds. As a result, there has been no precipitation here for, what scientist believe to be, more than 1000 years. However, we do get some mighty fine windstorms that blow clouds of snow our direction and hav all outward appearances of producing "real" snow!

Below are some pictures of some spectacular stormy skies last week. The way the sun came through between the clouds lit up the mountain ranges in crazy, but beautiful ways!