I heard these lyrics for the first time today as I was running in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. The line struck me as funny as I imagined a baby Whitney being held by penguin, who would probably be able to just barely wrap his flippers around an infant. More realistically, he probably would have tried to cradle me in his pouch designed for an egg. Clearly this was not the meaning that John Mayer was going for in his song, Half of My Heart.
I was listening to this song as it was on a compilation CD of Grammy nominees that I picked up in Buenos Aires. This experience brought a few things full circle. The night before we left for Ushaia, EB and I stayed up until 2am watching the Grammys as a friend’s band won Best Album of the Year – and the surrealness of the next two weeks began.
I also realized that I hadn’t listened to any music while in Antarctica – that playlist I was planning in one of my pre-trip posts never spun. Upon returning to the states I have realized how often I actively try to live out of the moment – distracting myself with music, crosswords, emails, phone calls, texts, books, etc. And then it hit me in terms of what was the pure joy of Antarctica – unitasking. I’m not sure if the absence of distractions is what made the moments more surreal, or if the surrealness of the experience made distractions obsolete. Either way, I am trying to bring a bit of that home with me as I unplugged my iPod and just enjoyed being surrounded by nature. I noticed a flock of geese hanging by the pond and was tempted to trek amongst them when I realized that geese are DISTANT relatives of penguins and not nearly as cute and friendly.
Things I loved about Antarctica:
Watching penguins run – cracks me up every time
Sledding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG4ggQF0JbI
Enjoying the incredible simplicity of a beautiful sunset – how does this happen every day?!
Joy of twister
Laughing with friends
Feeling every cell of my body scream out of shock:
Pre Swim-
Antarctic Swim – http://www.youtube.com/watch?
I will continue to post a few more photos and videos, so there is more to come! I’ll let John Mayer sum up the trip with the next line in Half of My Heart:
“Free to roam, made a home out of everywhere I’ve been”
PS: [*Note: Upon my return to the states many people were concerned that I was seasick for the entire trip – NOT TRUE. I was sick for one day on the trip down when crossing the Drake Passage and one day on the trip back, also shaking hands with Dr Drake]
