The permanent ice shelf has not turned out to be so “permanent”. Remember the pressure ridges, the beautiful formations that are created where the sea ice meets the shelf, well the ice has melted beyond that. It has not melted that far in over 10 years. It has melted so far that our road the runway has cracks and they have to talk a detour around them. What if it melts entirely away so we can’t access the runway people thought. People worried.
Regardless, giant icebergs have continually floated by McMurdo, back out to the major ocean, and to see them is amazing. Such straight edges, like they were cut with a laser. Like puzzled pieces that will fit back together once they bump back into each other. They look like floating platforms that you want to jump from one to the next, like lily pads. You don’t dare, slipping into the water would be deadly, but the child in you longs for such fun. Even our old ice pier has floated away, you’ll see black and red flags on a single iceberg as it floats by and realize that you were probably walking on that piece not too long ago. It is mind boggling how quickly things change, shift, and break away here. One day open water, next day 5 foot think ice skin that you driving a Delta on.
Another stark lesson that proves life is not permanent, and neither is anything around it. Makes you thank God that he allows us each and every day. Because you never know when the solid ground you’re standing on is going to give way and float away or melt beneath you. Nothing is solid except his hold on us, and even then we are the ones that sometimes push him away preferring to leap from iceberg to iceberg in fear, instead of standing on solid ground in his care.
No comments:
Post a Comment