Even that very first day, you could see in the kids' faces that the idea of an international polar expedition and the presence of the two recent conquerors of the North Pole was inspiring in a way that eventually made the entire expedition a "teachable moment"
Read MoreStarting Out
I am creating this blog as a precursor to publishing my book, Frozen Images. There is a practical reason for doing so, as I want to enhance the book experience for my readers with photos of the characters and additional background material. Yet it feels like a very scary and public move, one that brings me out of the secondary shadows I have preferred and frequented most of my career.
I'm not by any means a newcomer to online self-exposure. In 2005 I started one of the earliest online educational businesses about which I wrote in my own email newsletter to utter strangers - before to do so was labeled spam. I have been creating and writing for a variety of clients and media. I have been sharing personally on FaceBook and Flickr and Cowbird for years. All of this a slow and measured creep toward this very day when the shades come off and I step unguarded into the light.
So why does this feel so scary? Using my own name for a website and starting a blog that has no reason to exist other than a personal ambition to tell the stories that belong to me seems a bold declaration to a small audience. I am here. Pay attention. My friends, I think, will be less surprised that it has come to this. They have watched the evolution. But I am the one who has to be convinced that I have something to say that is worthy of an audience. We shall see.