11 January 2017 Musings on Bridge Trolls

"Trip, trap, trip, trap!" went the bridge.

This bridge spans some exposed pipes. We cross this bridge everytime we go to the galley from the Crary Sciece Lab.

"Who's that tripping over my bridge?" roared the troll.

This is the troll that lives under the bridge at McMurdo Station.

So goes the Norwegian tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff according to the revised translation by D.L. Ashliman.

My daughter Eliza and I play a game when we are hiking and cross bridges; I am the troll and I hide under the bridge or chase her across. In our game the presence of the troll is made known by me roaring "Who's that tripping over my bridge." When she was younger she would squeal with delight and run across the bridge to get away from the troll. Sometimes she would want to cross the bridge repeatedly which would slow the progress of our hike, but it was worth it.

One of the best parts about being a parent is being forced to see the world through a child's eyes. Everything is new and exciting. I crossed this bridge six or more times a day for 10 days before I saw the troll. Why did it take me so long to notice it? What else am I missing as I try to take in my surroundings? Would Eliza have seen the troll on her first time over the bridge?

I am experiencing many new things in Antarctica. It can be exhausting trying to take all of this once-in-a-lifetime experience in, but it is so worth it. I feel a "sense of wonder", as Rachel Carson put it, with all of these new experiences. More importantly I have a renewed determination to seek out all of the trolls I have missed at home when I get back to familiar turf. One of the best parts about being a biologist is that there is always more to learn and experience. As a teacher one of my main objectives is to help my students find excitement in the complexity and diversity of life. I hope we all can find ways to keep our childhood "sense of wonder" whether we are looking at a big landscape or finding microscopic animals in a petri dish.

Mt. Erebus the earth's southernmost active volcano. This is one of the landscapes that has recently inspired a sense of wonder in me.