Snowflakes

December 01, 2006
Quinn Roberts

Late last night after I'd finished working, I went up to the bow to look at the scenery.

While I was up there it began to snow. Just when I started getting cold, something caught my eye; it wasn't the two gigantic volcanic peaks in front of me, but a tiny snowflake on my coat.

Growing up in Pennsylvania, I've seen my fair share of snow, but I've never seen anything like this before. Remember the kind of paper snowflakes you would make in school as a kid, or the kind you hang on your Christmas tree? This looked just like them! It was so beautiful and intricate, yet so incredibly delicate.

How in the world does something like that form and maintain its shape falling hundreds of feet from the sky, getting beaten by the fierce wind along the way?

I began to search for more of these snowflakes along the bow only to find that they were everywhere, each of them feathery and exquisite little perfect snowflakes.

I've been on this ship for 31 days now. I've seen Adélie and Emperor penguins, Weddell seals, and enormous icebergs, yet none of those things can compare to the snowflakes that I saw last night.

Well that's all for today. I have to go gear up for another ice party tonight.