Sun, sun, daylight, sun (repeat for four months)

The last sunset was the first week I was here back in October. The next sunset will be in a few weeks. In the meantime the sun has been spinning around the sky in a counter-clockwise direction.

Us night workers have a time share with the sun. We wake to find it in the Northern part of the sky, although some would say all points are north down here. From there it swings around the Royal Society mountain range. In the wee hours of the 'night' it hovers over Mount Discovery, and usually finds some clouds to play hide-and-seek with. From there it schleps past Black island and White island. Come morning it hangs over an expanse of the permanent ice shelf that is as flat and white as far as the eye can see. People of the day watch the sun as it completes the loop and heads around Ross Island and Mount Erebus.

It becomes quite normal to constant daylight. That being said, I'm glad to have a dark room with no windows. One of the best parts of this job is spending so much time outside, watching the days go by.

I've felt the summer pass by. Things have gotten colder and colors have come back to the sky. They are subtle now, but when the sun is just so, you can catch some glimpses of orange, or pink or purple in the sky. This is a big deal when all you've seen for the past months has been an endless field of white, blue and grey.

Another great phenomenon has been the Fata Morgana. Not sure why the fancy term, but essentially they're mirages. And they've been happening quite a bit down here lately. A blanket of warmer air sits on the surface and stretches everything. Huge lakes can be seen where you've only seen ice before. The edges of islands stretch into huge steep cliffs. Buildings grow to seem like small skyscrapers.