Condition One

Well, we had our first major Condition 1 of the season
today. Major, because we missed more than a few
minutes of work. For those uninitiated, Condition 1
is the worst weather we can get. Condition 3 is the best
and the weather is "normal". Condition 2 is not as good
as Condition 3, but not as bad as Condition 1. You get
the idea. We've had sustained winds of 70 mph, zero
visibility and deep, deep snow. It was so bad they
cancelled work at midday today and we had to follow
ropes to get to our dorm. These are kind of cool times
though. I was remembering today that before coming
down here, my "ideal" of bad weather occurred in 1979 in
Hebron, Indiana. It was -29, winds of about 30 mph
and snowing. My brother and I had to cross the street
to our neighbors to get them a message because their
phone was out. We felt like real polar explorers.
Today I couldn't see 10 feet in front of me and was
nearly blown over by 70 mph winds. Hardly
comparable, but when you're 13 years old, you feel
like this brave arctic explorer. Well, today I felt like
a brave Antarctic explorer... and i was just walking
home from lunch!