This year I am not writing as much as last year. There are several reasons for this. 1) I already described much of what we do down here. 2) I was a whole lot busier this year than last year. 3) There are a lot of web sites that can do a lot better job of describing things than this one. For example, Jennifer Curtis, a teacher experiencing Antarctica, created a very nice website about working with us. Similarly, John Pollack wrote 4 dramatic pieces on our endeavors. In the following journal entry you will mainly read about how my experiences differed from theirs.

Beauty, light, texture, and depth have no meaning without shadow. In a land covered in the dark depths of shadowy night for half the year, I find myself once again awed by vastness that is Antarctica. I am here during summer - or the closest thing Antarctica has to resemble a warm season. Now there is little shadow. The blinding sun tirelessly spins an elliptical path through the sky twenty-four hours a day. But on those occasions when we venture through the jagged Transantarctic Mountains at nighttime, I find myself in a tapestry of interweaving shadows. Sure, we are in a stark, frozen hell. Sure, the shadows just aid the ever-persistent cold in its goal of freezing Antarctica and all who visit. But I can proudly say, I am here!

As I write these words, this three-word sentence makes me shiver. Not because I am cold (though I often am), but because I am here. Sometimes it is easy to forget how very alive we are. There are moments that make time seem irrelevant, motion appear obsolete, and words sound useless. The other night I had just such a moment. The shadows of Antarctica provided more beauty, light, texture, and depth than I could absorb. In a land that very much lacks life, a peace of life awoke in me.

I am not saying, 'I am a changed man,' or that, 'things will never be the same.' All I am saying is that it feels good to be alive. Too often I don't take the time to recognize the life I have inside me and around me. Too often the simple pleasures are taken for granted. It is far too easy to get caught up in the monotonous grind that is the work-a-day life our society has chosen. Sure the grind has its rewards, bountiful and important. The grind even relaxes and sooths with its security and reliability. But the grind is not life. Nor should it become life as we mature. The grind, as any other aspect of life, is just that. It is only a part of the whole.

The phrase, 'Stop and smell the flowers,' does not apply down here. There are no flowers. Nor does 'Watch the grass grow.' If I were to pick a substitute, I would choose, 'find the shadows.' I would encourage anyone who plans to visit Antarctica, to seek out any and all shadows. But you don't have to travel to the coldest place on Earth to find the shadows. All you have to do is look around with both eyes open and say, 'I am here.' It will happen naturally. I don't often take the time. I am careless with my life. I set goals and stick to them. I push and push. Just look at these pictures. Don't they just talk to you??