25 May
I'm back in my little room ("hooch") tonight after returning to my base early this morning. It was a good visit to a few of the FOBs, although the travel issues continue to haunt us. Essentially, it is a drag trying to get from one place to another over here. But once you get there it can be an enjoyable time (even fun, occasionally). But let me share a few photos and highlights from the last week...
I smashed my toe into a door frame yesterday morning and hobbled about for a few hours afterward. It hurt bad enough that I went to the Med station and had them examine and "buddy tape" it. I could bend it some by that time, so we don't think it is broken, but boy does it sting to hurt a toe. I don't know why I actually took a picture of my toes here, and posting it on the internet is even sillier. My wife says I need a manicure before I ever take a picture of my feet again! But oh well. I can't go into much of the military stuff, so I have to share other (less exciting) aspects of my everyday life. I suppose a coat of red nail polish would do wonders. Hummm.....??? Naaah. I'll pass.
The picture of the shepherd was taken from a look-out tower at one of our FOBs. This particular place is very quiet and safe, and the reason for that has to do with a local warloard and a graveyard on the FOB. Apparently, some of his ancestors are buried in this particular graveyard within the FOB's boundaries, and he did not take kindly to the Taliban shooting rockets at this FOB a few years back. Local tradition has it he went after the Taliban himself and made a violent example out of those guys and a warning to anyone who messes with that specific FOB in his territory. So our troops in this area enjoy peace and quiet and his protection, in a way. Needless to say, the local shepherds come right up the the walls of the military base.
The watermelon was a gift from a local man to our team last Saturday. About six of us sat around and enjoyed some watermelon like it was 4th of July back home. It was a good day and a nice memory. Thankfully, no one got sick from the local citrus, which was a possibility.
Also, I got to tell you about my ordeal getting home last night. My assistant and I managed to get seats on a 10:30 pm flight back to our base. I had high hopes of getting into my room about midnight and sleeping in my own bed. No such luck. We actually got on board and were all loaded and ready for take-off when they discovered a problem with the brakes. Good thing they found it when they did, I suppose, but we ended up sitting there on the plane for over an hour before they sent us back to the terminal to wait it out. They told us they might fix it in a few hours and we'd be on our way about 2 am. So I stayed up and watched a movie in the terminal. My assistant tried to sleep on the concrete floor. It was not fixed at 2 am, so we were placed on the 6 am bird (which was cancelled at the last minute, too). We finally caught a 7:30 am flight that actuallt did fly us home. I never did get any sleep at the terminal, and realized I had been up over 26 hours. I did catch a nap today, and hope to get some real rest tonight. One of the things I realize about the Army is that the days can be very long!
And finally, I received a nice comment about my blog from a new Marine friend who stumbled across it on the internet. Thank you for your encouragement as well as for your own past service. I appreciate that you put on the uniform, too, and for your kind words. Some days I do not know what impact I'm having over here, but other days it's more obvious. Thanks for the reminder and the pick-me-up!
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