Brian sneaks up on a meteorite (from 2017-2018). His ninja-like skills mean they never hear him coming. Gotta be a good ninja if you dress in red, right?

John, Jim and I received the following progress report from Brian yesterday, via email.

“Hey Guys,

Made it down to CHC and am scheduled to fly South tomorrow morning at 9am.  A remarkably civilized time, which is nice. The CDC process was pretty easy, with the only difference this year being the covid test.

I’ll be in touch once I get down to the ice. Hope you’re all doing well.”

Obviously a man of few words, but that’s why we love him.   By my reckoning,  his flight to McMurdo should leave about 3 pm EST on Wednesday (22 Nov).  That’s St. Cecilia day, if you care about such things;  and is it just coincidence that we have our own St. Cecilia in the Antarctic Meteorite lab at JSC?  Pilgrim’s Progress indeed!  I will go sit quietly somewhere until the ecstatic visions recede.

Before I do that, one other editorial note to add:  exactly what to expect from the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) was a topic of much discussion at our BootCamp. The season before the pandemic included notable changes to the gear supplied by the CDC. Remember the thick wool tube socks?  Gone, evidently.  None of us were confident regarding what other changes might be in store, what gear would be supplied beyond Big Red, some boots and some windpants.   Hopefully we’ll hear more on that from Brian after his arrival in McMurdo and that can help out the rest of the crew,  slated to leave in just a few more days……

-Ralph