Why Here?

Some people expand your world. Usually they are teachers, sometimes they are parents, hopefully, they are friends. These people push you in some way—encourage you to grow. Maybe it’s intellectually, or culturally, or even physically. And sometimes, it’s geographically.

We are here because of our friendship with two remarkable people. Helene Frichot and (Captain) Leif Skog exposed us to this Southernmost Continent through their intense bond to it in work, love, and life. Before their presence in my life, it never occurred to me to conceive of a voyage to Antarctica, let alone realize it. Antarctica is part of their everyday world, and they are gifted and passionate ambassadors of this remote place. Coming here has changed me—or at least invigorated me. The remoteness of place, the ruggedness of ice and seas, the strength of forces, the stark beauty, alert me of the drama of this planet and the miracle of living.

We came here to Antarctica for many reasons, some superficial, some not. The obvious one is the occasion of our 40th birthdays and our ten years of marriage. The less obvious is my heightened feelings of life’s brevity since my father’s passing. I wear my mortality like a new haircut, it feels strange, but I’ll get used to it, and it will transform as it grows in. Antarctica is a new hairstyle, a different hat; it alters what’s there, rearranges what I can’t change, directs growth in a new direction.