Matt and I were crossing Sixth Avenue this evening to pick up dinner from Go Sushi when I got a phone call from the South Pole. It was my best friend Larry, who is coming to the end of his third winterover in Antarctica and his second winterover at the South Pole specifically. Yes, you can get phone calls from the South Pole. They use satellite phones, and there’s about a two-second delay, but it’s phone service. Matt and I stood outside Go Sushi at 7:30 on a Wednesday autumn night, taxis zooming up Sixth Avenue with their headlights on, while Larry talked to us from the South Pole on a Thursday afternoon.

This was the third or fourth time I’ve talked to him on the phone in Antarctica (and probably the last, as he has no plans to go back after he leaves next week). I’ll never get over the fact that we can do that.