Thursday, February 23, 2012

Ice and Landing Gear (IDF and I)

I'm still heading back towards Marmal, and am staying in Bagram for some meetings. I made the mistake of brewing some strong coffee, and drinking two large cups between lunch (which I'd missed) and dinner. I stayed up late searching online for authentic, mil-spec 550 cord. This was not actually vital, but I'll blame the coffee.

I headed back towards the housing units a little after midnight, and noticed that so much water was on the yard, that it was like walking on a frozen lake. I had made it most of the way over the ice and rocks when the alarm siren went off! I did not want to get caught out in the open in the case of InDirect Fire, so I tried to run. You guessed it, I promptly went down, hard. Typical react to IDF drill is hitting the dirt for two minutes, so I stayed low as I rolled on the ground in pain.

After I thought a couple of minutes had passed, I got up and hobbled towards the housing units, which are steel and considered shelter against IDF. As I got close to my loaned unit, I discovered my key was gone! Fortunately, SFC Wu opened her door when I knocked. She let me shelter in her blessedly warm room as the loudspeaker blared warnings about security sweeps and inbound fire. When it was finally over, perhaps 45 minutes after it began, I borrowed a flashlight and began retracing my steps.

My Inova X1 and the key were spotted lying together where I'd impacted hard enough to throw both out of my pocket. The little silvery X1 had already partially frozen to the ground.

Once again, I've been lucky. I have a small abrasion on my left hand, and some bruising on my right elbow and knee. And I'm once again very thankful for shelter and safety, warmth and love, all the good things we have at home.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Roots

I'm down at Camp Leatherneck, clearing out the rest of my stuff. After sending 7 boxes at the post office, I "only* have a rucksack and 2 duffel bags to carry back! I'm still thankful for every pound I don't have to drag or carry with me, though. :-)

I hope this finds all of you well.

HallowE09