Here, There & Everywhere: October 5th, 2012: South Bound

The view from our C-17

Fly South, little bird

Across the frozen sea

To a place of mystery and legend

That few will ever see

A land full of secrets

Waiting to be told

But you must go to battle

With the ice, the wind, the cold

Be brave, little bird

This is where you are meant to be

And you will find that to your heart

This land holds the key

Fly South, little bird

Across the frozen sea

Over the snow-capped mountains

To a land of mystery

During our 5 hr flight South

On November 3rd, 2011 I lined up behind a crowd of red coats and waited impatiently for my turn to set foot in Antarctica. I made the transition from a dark C-17 to a bright new world and, as I took my first steps onto the frozen ice and packed snow, time stopped and rewound. I was ten years-old again, looking at a photo in Nat Geo of a white-washed world splashed with blue. In this picture I saw red-hooded figures wearing goggles and bunny boots and traversing on a frozen sea. And here I was, fifteen years later, one of the red coats taking my first steps in a place that was no longer confined to my imagination. Very few times since becoming an adult have I experienced a guttural feeling of excitement--the same feeling a child experiences on Christmas morning--but this was one of them. My eyes began to tear-up and my heart swelled with pride as I fulfilled a childhood dream.

A little less than one year later, on October 5th, 2012, I returned. Stepping through the door of the plane--which reminded me of the wardrobe door in a beloved childhood book--I reentered this magical land. This time I knew what to expect, I had experienced it before, but the excitement and thrill was comparable to my first encounter. Dave and I walked across the airfield--ninety plus inches of ice separating us from the frigid sea beneath--to the vehicle that waited to take us to our new home. We both held our cameras high as we walked, and exchanged ear-to-ear smiles. We made it back!