Notwithstanding, when he finally arrived the icy continent of Antarctica6, he realised he was witnessing portions of wild earth.
Discovered, oh yes!
Tamed? Not one bit.
The entire landscape gave a whole new meaning to the word – FROZEN.
The place was literally iced out.
And even if this deep freeze conditions were temporarily put aside, it still looked bleak.
Beyond this, it would be best described as a land of natural beauty for paintings on canvases only.
It is wilderness covered in white sheets of solid ice, length to width, and corner to corner.
He was literally looking at a continent where land seemed to have come to an end and frozen water readily took over.
In other words, sea water in the form of thick layers of deep solid iced sheets.
This is the continent where ice age never left and deep freeze conditions remained.
The continued change of liquids into solids consumes everything in its vast landscape.
And yet, the sheet of bareness still looked admirably charming, beautiful and pure.
But, with fewer humans around in research labs, it was wildly unwelcoming.
From mount Vinson Massif, Antarctica's highest mountain upon which he stood, Edan looked about the cold desolate land with its variety of frozen glassy crystals.
He was thrilled and awed at the same time in one mighty mix of emotion.
It was one emotional tide that made him tremble a little from the intense cold and fierce hostile winds, even though he was kitted-out in full Inuit clothing. Meanwhile, a tear forced its way from the corner of his left eye. It sailed down his cheek and then froze. It wasn't for sadness, loss or the cold wind on his face.
It was one frozen teardrop of joy.
There was nothing like it he had ever seen before. And nothing quite like any place he had been, ever.
As he continued to look around the vast unoccupied iced landscape which stretched for miles on end, he wandered if there ever was a place better described as the ends of the earth.
None?
On this ice-covered place, he felt he was standing on it. Just like all those before him who have braved its harsh wilderness.
It would also explain why he could not find anyone remotely close to fitting the human description of his dream girl.
The air was thin and dry. Its atmosphere was chilling to the bones.
Everything was in a state of deep freeze, even the scanty vegetation.
This was a place wholly set to win the gold medal position for the coldest habitat on earth. That is, if anyone was crazy enough to arrange such a competition.
But it was an angry place.
It was unfriendly as it was beautiful in a photographic sense.
Although he was sorry to be leaving such charming site behind, he knew it was time to vacate the land of frozen icicles.