Back to the Ice

I'm on my way back, currently waiting at the Albany airport to begin a series of flights so long I've avoided doing the math.

Though I'm guessing Antarctica is still cold and dry and far away, I expect this trip will be different. I know that I've changed and I know a few things at McMurdo have changed since I was last there.

As before, my primary job there is to provide spiritual care to the scientists, support staff and military members connected with the US Antarctic Program. It's an amazing and eclectic group of people, and I'm looking forward to hearing how their life journeys have brought them to the bottom of our planet. I'm there for two months, back by Thanksgiving if the weather cooperates, and this trip I get to be the opening rotation. There are a few ceremonial events within the week to officially kick off this year's research season, and then I should be on the ice around the first of October.

As excited as I am, this is a bittersweet day for me as well. We went to breakfast as a family and then I dropped the girls off late for school before last-minute packing and then a trip to the airport. My daughters are brilliant, beautiful inside and out, and so resilient they amaze me. Being apart hurts us all - more than a few tears in the school today for drop off - and I am so grateful for the support they give their daddy. Each of their classrooms created a banner that I'll spread out and photograph way down under, and we've made some plans to bring a bit of this adventure into their classrooms as well. But I won't be able to tuck them in at night and will miss them dearly. This will be hard to be away.