Wow! What a day!

Today we woke up to the sound of our ship crunching through an ice sheet! While visions of the Titanic quickly flashed through my head, I got up to see all of the fun.

We ate breakfast and were told today was kayaking day. For those of you who know me, you know I’m not particularly comfortable with water. However, my roommate is a huge kayaker, and I decided to give it a go. I am so glad that I did. The water was the most gorgeous shade of blue, and the ice was the cleanest, purest white you can imagine. We kayaked around the edge of an ice sheet, and were joined in our journey by penguins porpoising past us. It was so calm and beautiful that I didn’t want it to end. I was able to dip my water testing samples into the water, so I have great data on the salinity, temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen in this area that I can analyze later. I had chills the entire time I was in the kayak, not because of the temperature here (a warm-feeling 27 degrees), but because of the pure, undisturbed beauty of the area. To think of how few people are able to have this experience filled me with gratitude and an even greater desire to share this experience with as many people as possible.

We came in for lunch, and then went to a talk on penguins. However, our talk kept getting interrupted because there were incredible wildlife spottings. Our expedition leader told us he was a little jealous, because it took him 2 years of sailing to Antarctica to finally see an Emperor Penguin, and we all got to see many Emperor Penguins today after only 2 days in Antarctica! We all definitely picked up on how special it was, as the staff and crew were just as excited as we were.

After the Penguin talk, we got to go out for a hike on the ice sheet. This was pretty incredible, as there was just flat white ice up to the horizon. We got to get closer to the Emperors, which was amazing, and then we hiked on 6 feet of ice that was resting on 150 meters of water. Also, with less wind during this time, I didn’t even need my coat zippered since the sun felt so warm.

We all came back aboard the ship for our expedition daily recap, followed by dinner. While this took place, the ship transited to a new location on the ice sheet. We then were able to go on a night hike during the beautiful never-ending sunset.

If this wasn’t already a special enough day, a couple got married on the ice sheet during our night hike. The best part? I got to be their wedding band. That’s right- me and my purple trombone played “Here Comes the Bride” as the processional, and “The Wedding March” for the recessional. I’m going to guess there have been less than a handful of people who have ever played the trombone on an ice sheet in Antarctica, but now my name can be added to the list. And how cool is it that I got to make music for a couple starting their journey together at the bottom of the world?

As you all know, music brings people together. I got to meet so many more people because I was holding a trombone in public today. So many people shared their favorite music making stories or asked me to play them something, You should have seen how the sight of a purple trombone brings a smile to so many people’s faces!