Reflections

“Are you excited?” you say.  The answer is complex, as emotions often are.  As leaving time draws near, there are seemingly a myriad of details to accomplish.  I’ll never complete the minutia of my mental check lists, but I’m confident that I’ll go prepared.  After all, there is very little to take where fashion and variety are not a real concern.  The important thing is not to leave anything essential behind.  I won’t be turning around to pick it up.  But I want to be sure to leave things as orderly as I can.  I will be leaving co-workers with extra duty. 

Honestly I’m not very anxious about all of that—I guess I’m fairly used to handling a lot of details and preparations.  More importantly, I’ll be leaving my wife and family.  They are strong, and will do well without me.  Leaving is hard, but we’ve done this before; and I know we will be stronger in the end.  Still, it’s hard.

There will be the stress of twenty-some hours of flying time to New Zealand, and then several days of preparation for the final trip to “the ice.”  Then I’ll enter a world where seventy-two hour work weeks are the norm; Ten degrees Fahrenheit is considered a pretty balmy day; and the twenty-four hour sun plays havoc with one’s body clock.  They tell me that I should be expected to be deprived of smells, sounds, color, warmth and moisture.  I will travel by myself to a place I’ve never been and a people I’ve never known.  It sounds very Biblical, doesn’t it?  “Get yourself up, and go to the place that I will show you.”  At least Abraham got to take his loved ones with him.  I think I would be way more excited if I could do that.

With all that aside; yes, I am excited.  It’s amazing, when I mention the subject, how many people tell me they have been to, or know someone who has been to “the ice.”  Thousands go every year.  Still, there are relatively few people in the world who will experience such a pristine and exotic environment.  In a very modest way I hope that you can live just a little of it through my eyes and senses.  I hope to capture pictures and stories that will broaden my awareness and spice up conversation for years to come.  That is, until someone says, “If you mention Antarctica one more time, I’m going to… a) barf, b) throttle you, c) scream.”  With that in mind, my intention is to keep my posts as brief, yet interesting as possible, so you don’t do one of the above.  More later…thanks for your support and prayers.