Antarctica reached – 7th Continent checked (a squirty reason revealed)

My personal determination to make it down here to Antarctica started with a squirt back in March of 1980. In fact, it was a humiliating squirt straight onto my new Sunday dress pant legs purchased for the Protestant Confirmation service that day. Before the ceremony scheduled for 1pm, our family and attending relatives gathered at nearby Tierpark Bern’s newest exhibit – the penguin enclosure.

Standing right at the enclosure’s fenced edge, all it took was a short few high pressure seconds and the guano had been projectile squirted in all its stinking, guey wetness on the legs of my pants. I was embarrassed while everyone around me laughed at the scene. Needless to say the Tierpark replaced the fence with glass panels a few short months later which tells me that my incident was one of many.

Once over the shock of my ruined pants, I promised myself I would find my way to their habitat one day and “rain on their parade.” Fourtytwo years later, I am happy to report that I fulfilled my promise. Now, in regards to “raining on their parade,” humanity has done that for decades with overfishing and warming the climate which reduces penguin habitats and breeding areas. Thus, my visit was one of peace and admiration for the harsh lives these amazingly agile flightless birds live.

Now that I truly and fully understand how hard these penguins live, how stunning their habitat is in size and scope, I promise to support their preservation and research going forward to assure many future generations get to experience penguins in the wild.

This promise coincides with the other milestone achieved- that of visiting the 7th continent. The above foto serves as evidence for myself and my friend Jerry of this accomplishment. Cheers!🥂