Not Doing Justice

I have been waiting to write about my experiences here.  Or maybe it's hesitating...   To start off I feel a description is in order and immediately I run into a problem.  Even now after nearly a month to soak it all in I am not going to be able to do it justice.  I simply don't know the words and wonder if they even exist.  My first impressions?  Cold, vast, humbling, and beautifully exquisite.  Those are the few words that might be warranted and in some way I feel bad about trying to use them.  Antarctica is a place that doesn't want to be defined.  It doesn't want to be told, it wants to tell you.  I feel that is why I have a hard time describing anything outside of factual life here.  The continent itself in all it's majesty is a feeling.  It feels alive.  There is something here that pulses with energy and I feel drawn in by it all.  I sympathize with those like Scott, Amundsen, Byrd, Shackleton, and others who risked all costs in the name of exploration and occasionally laid down their lives here.  Those epics were not in vain.  They were played out answering the call.  Antarctica beckons.

Christchurch

It feels good to be back in New Zealand.  Surreal, but good...or maybe that should be "and good."  Got my Extreme Cold Weather gear issued today and took a fellow team member to the ocean for the first time in his 29 year life.  Funny that his first is the South Pacific vs. the Atlantic a couple hundred miles from his home...  Oh, I woke up at 3:30am last night to find out what an aftershock from the 21st floor feels like.  That was interesting.  Who knew a building so big could sway so much.  Christchurch looks like it's been in a fight.  Tomorrow I leave for the bottom of the world.  Wish me luck.

Round 2

It's been roughly 9 months since I returned home from the last round of travels.  It seems like so little has happened in my life relative to a year abroad, but when I look back at what these months have fashioned I realize that I've done and experienced so much hidden in the stealth of subtleties; the difficulty in living a "regular" life.  I feel lucky to have caught the beauty there: a sister's PhD, family love, birthdays, climbing adventures, big moves, boardshorts, beer, surf, and a beautiful Florida summer.  In retrospect I've accomplished everything I hoped for 9 months ago.  Life is beautiful like that...  Soon it will be back to travels with a bang as I pack things up for a summer in Antarctica followed by travels in New Zealand, Australia, and beyond.  Check back soon.