29 November 2008 Happy Thanksgiving

The team celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday November 29, 2008. Tanner was stranded in McMurdo due to weather conditions and his presence was sorely missed. Drilling was at a standstill, so team members conducted research on individual field projects in the area. Everyone came in from the field around 1600 and Joe prepared sliced turkey wrapped in bacon, with stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. The turkey loaf was frozen solid - check out the video of Joe's turkey carving technique.

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You may have noticed that my picture is missing from the Thanksgiving celebration photos. I had told the team earlier that I was not comfortable being photographed, especially in the tent. I was not used to seeing myself with no makeup and with my hair so windblown and did not want to be photographed very much. Sometime in the wee morning hours of the Thanksgiving celebration, I laid down a challenge. If anyone managed to take a good photograph of me, I would take off my Big Red jacket and hat in this weather and dance on the rocks in my wind clothes.

As it turns out, Sean was up for the challenge, and is an excellent photographer. The next day (November 30, 2008) he took several photographs and I let the team select the best ones. Here is one of the photographs of me dancing on the rocks in my wind clothes as promised.

On December 1, 2008, I returned to McMurdo to post some journals and Tanner returned to Beacon Valley to resume drilling. I will post his interview in a future journal. On my trip back to McMurdo, I got to sit in the front seat of a helicopter which provided an even more spectacular view for taking photographs. I always like to post photographs from the helicopter rides because each time the lighting is different, it snows, or some features are more distinctive and prominent. Enjoy.