South Pole Christmas

Just a descriptive piece based off this picture

Winds sweep over the snow-covered plains, whistling with cold and billowing up flurries of white powder. Flags, buffeted by this ever-constant wind, are unfurled to their full potential. Despite the harshness of the gusts and the snow, the day is peaceful, quiet and empty with a beautiful blue sky that reigns over all it sees. The barren landscape stretches on for years in every direction; though here, in this unique location, every direction is north. The tundra is interrupted only by man’s contributions: flags, buildings, and a few creative efforts at snowmen. The evidence of trying to enliven the empty environment continues in a makeshift Christmas tree, prominently placed next to that star spangled banner that marks the southernmost location on Earth. The tree itself is no tree at all; rather a mess of plastic and metal rods decorated with all manner of ribbons and scraps that results in a rather sparse looking Charlie Brown-esque creation. The fortress north of the sculpture of scraps looks more like an oversized shipping container: a metallic gray box with slits for windows, built for function with no regard for style. Its flat shapelessness serves to complement its surroundings that boast the same dull features. Yet the building stands proud, as if it thinks its very existence is an homage to human triumph; though with a step back, it appears as it truly is: a tiny blemish on nature’s vast creation, a futile attempt to make it man’s own. The massive fortress, and all other human contributions to the southern wasteland, are merelybugs on the Antarctic’s windshield, itches that, while they cannot be scratched, are easily ignored.

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