Do you really understand what it means...

Do you really understand what it means to see something so beautiful that it literally makes you speechless? I've been left speechless many times in the past, but I have always been able to regain composure and explain or describe the point I was trying to get across. The first day I stepped off the C-17 and looked around is the day I understood what this feeling is. I finally understood why some paint and why some risk their lives to record things that most will never have the chance to see in their lives. I try to explain this cold, dead, yet beautiful paradise to everyone back home, but can never do it justice. No matter what type of media you use to capture the beauty of this place, you will never be able to. Standing in town, you can stare into the distance as far as the eye can see. Standing just outside of town, in the right conditions, you can stare into the vast endlessness of ice and snow with absolutely no wind, no sound, no scent, see no one, see nothing but a pristine, untouched land, and feel like the world was created just for you. Look toward the Royal Society and the ice covered mountains reflect the awe-demanding emotions that I never knew people could comprehend.

Here are a few pictures; the rest is left up to your imaginations...