The first day in Antarctica is both clearly in my mind and a befuddled mixture of where was I and what is that? I had few pictures of the morning because, as you now know, I forgot to charge the batteries in my camera! But here are some of Bruce’s to let you know that, 1) I really was there and 2) there are amazing things in the Southern Ocean.

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I learned, on that first morning, how to clump around in waterproof boots, and not overheat in 3 to 4 layers of clothing!

And my education was only beginning. I saw amazing blues in the water and the ice. My camera could not capture the iridescence that has no match or the blinding black of the depths.

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I managed to catch an improbable piece of gold in the evening mountains.

I began to experience Antarctica in colors, not places. Let’s face it, after day 2 I had no idea where I was. I had the written itinerary to remind me but that changed each day. At first, I was diligent about writing down where the expedition team told me that I was. But then the colors, the wildlife, the experience of sitting on a rock communing with a penguin that insisted on sunning himself (herself) right in front of me, hearing a glacier calf, watching an iceberg roll, became the important things. I didn’t care where in Antarctica I was located. I cared about the things I was seeing, and the feelings of complete freedom of existence.

It began to dawn on me that I might be in that place, at that time, for a reason. It didn’t take more than a couple of more days to figure it all it.

Just remember, I am a weaver.