The Sheila Variations

The Mighty Jimbo's journey to the bottom of the world

Jimbo demonstrates, yet again, why his blog Digital Catharsis is one of my favorites. He just got back from a trip to Antarctica, and his posts (and photos) are beyond belief. Definitely go and check out his photographs, but DO NOT miss his writing, either.

Look here.

Another post entitled "Sir Francis had some serious balls"

An excerpt from this post:

But sometimes when I’m out on deck or up on the observatory and the cold wind is stinging my face and my hands and I’m looking out on glacier enshrouded islands or onto the seemingly endless expanse of the water tossing us around I wonder just why in the hell I have brought myself to this most inhospitable and uncomfortable of places. But then there are the times when the sun is shining and the ocean is a deep, rich blue, and the only thing I can see on the horizon is my own sense of wonder.

And then there are the times like this evening, when the wind had died down for at least a moment or two, and as I was standing on the bow and looking down as we knifed through the waves, a penguin leapt up and out from the water just a few meters below me and gracefully sailed over our bow wave. And then I remember just why I am here. I’m here because all of this is here. A kid from Arizona just saw a penguin. Not in a zoo. Not in a book. And not on the television. I saw a penguin, doing whatever penguins do, and I saw it just a few feet from my own face. It’s Antarctica. And really, that’s all the reason I need.

More on his trip. "In many ways it reminded me of life in the desert. A place where life seems abundant only because of its relative absence. The light. The rock. Everything seemed raw and severe. And yet simultaneously refined and sculpted and beautiful."'

Sigh. I wish I was there.

And finally - his latest post entitled "I haven't gone totally off the deep end and bought a whale song CD yet. YET."

Read the whole thing. It's startlingly beautiful prose, and gives you the sense that you are there.

The leopard seals were the most amazing animals I saw until we heard a whale blow nearby on that calm, cloudy afternoon and motored out to what we expected would be another group of minkes.

What we found were two humpbacks. Two humpback whales, floating effortlessly on the surface, their crusted dorsal fins occasionally protruding from the water, their black, scarred backs creating black, rubbery islands among the white ice around them.

We killed the engine and floated up to them, listening to their massive lungs push incredible amounts of air from their blowholes. We were ecstatic, barely able to control our own lungs that went from stealing our breath to making us hyperventilate in excitement. We were twenty feet from two humpback whales, maybe fifty-feet long, their huge white flukes clearly visible under the water.

They floated undisturbed next to us, and I swear it was all I could do to keep from jumping up and down in the boat.

Thanks so much for these eloquent posts, Jimbo. I have followed you every step of the way, and the writing helps me see it all through your eyes.

Posted by sheila