It turned really cold here in Ohio today. Well… not really, really cold… but definitely below average for November. I am not a big fan of the cold weather… but this is the time of year to hunker down, bite the bullet, and put up a tough front. The older I get, the more and more I dislike the cold weather. But not as much as Robert Scott. I betcha’ by the time he died… that guy HATED the cold.
You see…. Robert Falcon Scott, was a British Royal Navy officer. He was also an explorer. That turned out to be not so great for Capt. Bob. His claim to fame was having led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions. The first one was called the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04. The second was called the Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13.
So as I mentioned…. the exploring thing didn’t turn out for Bob. During the second venture, Scott led a party of five which reached the South Pole on January 17, 1912. Unfortunately, they traveled ALL that way ….. only to find that they had been preceded by a Norwegian expedition….. led by Roald Amundsen.
But… … …and here is where things went south….. (no pun intended) Scott and his companions died from a combination of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold…. shortly thereafter.
He became a British hero. His last note, written as he froze to death, read ‘For God’s sake look after our people’. It was written March 29th, 1912.
And… they didn’t find Scott and his pals until November that year…. specificaly on todays’s date, 102 years ago. Solid as a rock.
So… after hearing today’s story, I can count my blessings. In comparison… today’s chilly temperatures were not that bad. In fact… I came through it okay. I’ve also gained knowledge. I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up… but I can check Antarctic Explorer off my list.
“Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained.” — Lao Tzu