Do you see what I see?

A. A Loaf of Bread
B. Edvard Munch's "The Scream"
C. A breaching tarpon, or bonefish
D. Don Quijote and Sancho Panza
E. Elmer Fudd
F. A Pontiac Thunderbird
G. Spiro Agnew
H. Two Tree Frogs, copulating
I. Mt. Rushmore
J. A Spicy Tuna Maki Roll

November 17th
Dear Deany,

Not that I am any more superstitious than your average African shaman, but after having written that last crack about the imminent Erebus eruption engulfing McMurdo I decided it was an inauspicious day for me to be flying around in a helicopter so, big-hearted fellow that I am, I let Anne and Sylvestre go up there alone. I hear them whirring back and forth now, getting those all important shots of the camp as seen from the air. It is actually worth passing up the flight just to have a few minutes of uninterrupted solitude. Anne and Sylvestre and I are getting along fabulously, all things considered, but my oh my do we all live on top of one another. Anne has it the worst because she lives in the tent we cook and eat in. The Scott tents allow for private sleeping and laying on the cot but not much else; inside mine is a pretty claustrophobic environment, what with boot liners, socks, mittens, defrosting sunblock and Gator Balm and the computer and all the rest of it dangling from the tapered roof.

I want to thank you and Katie for your words of encouragement on the blog. We hadn't seen a helo since just after arriving here in the Friis Hills so that in part accounts for the delay in getting some more news out, but also just blasting stuff off into the void without any feedback was starting to get wearisome. So thank you both for your notes. I'll try to keep it coming even though I feel I may have already exhausted the local subject matter. (Rocks, Going for walks, Going for walks amongst the rocks, etc.). On the flight in today we also for the first time got a printout of everything you have posted since I headed out to Mt. Boreas; antarcticiana looks fabulous, thanks to you and your efforts.

On the subject of rocks and going for walks I know that I mentioned some time ago that we are camped on an expansive plain of boulders, mainly chunks of basaltic dolorite, the reddish-black rock that is the primary rock in the surrounding Friis Hills. There are also many granite boulders, abandoned here many millions of years ago by glacial activity, and these have weathered in a most extraordinary way. They are rounded, curvaceous, even. Some have holes punched through them. These are known as "erratics" to geologists because they are not made up of local rock and have been carried here and deposited by glaciers. I call them "eccentrics." I think I suggested that the whole area looks like a sort of modernist sculpture garden run wild, but leaving aside the history of twentieth century art what is most remarkable is how many of these spectacular rocks look just like common household objects, or famous people from history.

I admit we have been out here for quite a long time, but before you go accusing me of being one of those wackos who sees the Virgin Mary in a crumpled up paper bag or something take a look at these amazing specimens for yourself (I will here later insert the obligatory link to philjacobsen.com, Phil in a winterover moment having seen the Virgin Mary in an old oily cardboard box, I think it was).

In any case I thought it would be fun to make this post into a kind of a brain teaser, so here it is: match one of the numbered photographs with the lettered description that fits. I know a lot of them are really easy and obvious, but I've tried to throw in a few stumpers. Post your solution in the "comments" and I'll buy a round next time I'm in the same place as the winner.