The days are getting shorter and shorter amazingly fast. Darkness is coming. I both dread and look forward to it. It is amazingly beautiful, the clear stary night that last for 3 months, filled with auroras and necreous clouds. But when that first orange glow of the returning sun pops over the mountain range, I bask in it, feel warmth from it and it recharges my soul. Even though it doesn't give off much light. Life down here is like living in a deprivation chamber and it makes you really appreciate all the things we take for granted.

I'm not talking about the luxuries that we have in the US, but the beauty around us every day. The warmth of the sun on our skin, the smell of grass and flowers, the sound of rain falling, birds chirping, the waves crashing on the beach. When I get out of Antarctica, it is like being reborn, and taking in the world through the senses of a child, seeing the wonders around us for the first time. That is worth the 8 months of isolation. If I could only keep that wonder and not take it for granted....

Peace, Love and the wonderful world we live in.

W