Through the never ending wonders of technology I was able to watch live the International Polar Year opening ceremony held in Washington, DC this past Monday. A question and answer session followed laudatory statements from a panel of distinguished speakers. A woman in the audience stepped up to the microphone to comment on the music of the IPY video. She suggested the inclusion of polar sounds such as ice snap, crackle and popping. I found this quite ironic.
The very night before, I was snuggled into my bivy sac-ed mummy bag for the first time this season. I was reminded how wonderful the sounds of Antarctica are. Away from the drone of the station’s power generators, my campsite along Hero Inlet will lull me to sleep yet another season with sounds of popping ice, cheeping petrel chicks, waves surging offshore, the boom of restless glaciers settling. Yes, music hath charm and as I listened to these melodies and felt the fresh air on my face I thought “these are some of my favorite things”.
So doing my part to add music of Antarctica to the IPY, I present the following lyrical selection. The melody is not original as Rodgers and Hammerstein will attest and Julie Andrews might not wish to perform this Antarctic version of “My Favorite Things” but…..
My Favorite Things - (Antarctic style)
Snowflakes on icebergs and orange beaks on gentoos
Bright midnight twilight and shag eyes of deep blue
Loud calving glaciers that make my ears ring
These are a few of my favorite things
Porpoising penguins and seals out on ice floes
Minkes and orcas and humpbacks all below
Krill schools that show with an echosounder ping
These are a few of my favorite things
When the wind howls, when the ice stings,
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad
Girls in red drysuits with black weight belt buckles
Long dives that just leave me numb to my knuckles
Continent for science sure makes my heart sing
These are a few of my favorite things
When the wind howls, when the ice stings,
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad