Fruits and Nuts

Still in Louisiana. For the first good bit we were here we didn't have the internet yet, so I started writing blogs in MS Word so that when we got the internet I could post them...well, we got it now. I didn't write as many posts as I would have liked, but I did write a few in the beginning...it's been pretty busy here with a lot of training, so I'll try to catch up in the next few days if I can. Here's the one from the first day we were here...

01 March 2007: We made it to Louisiana…oh yeah, up till now I’ve been misspelling it. Sorry to all you Louisianans. It actually wasn’t too bad getting here. We waited around a lot, for about four hours in the pack shed lying around on the concrete floor taking naps while they loaded our duffels and rucksacks. We took a commercial plane, but it was a military charter, so we all got to pile on and pick our own seats (just imagine the chaos) and the coolest part was that we got to take our weapons!! Knives, rifles, pistols, liquids…you name it, we carried it on. It was fantastic. It was a really smooth flight, beautiful scenery. The flight was only two hours. When I got off the plane I was immediately slapped in the face by a wall of humidity. It was warm with a slight breeze…kind of a relief after the cold of NC. It was a beautiful night…dusk was just falling as we waited to get on the bus…the sky was really clear dark blue overhead, gradually gong to lighter blue and finally orange right on the horizon. It was a really interesting juxtaposition…the huge 737 parked on the tarmac of a small, rural runway next to a rundown hangar, out in the country…it just seemed so out of place. As we drove away, crammed on a bus with our stuff, I quietly shed some tears…as night fell down all the way and the stars started to show, I thought of Kevin, and how far away he is, and how badly I miss him. There weren’t too many tears…just a few, then I fell asleep with my head on my backpack. It was rough taking our bags off the truck, then finding a spot to sleep…I felt so alone crammed in the middle of so many people, and no one knowing how lonely I felt. I snuck away again before bed and cried a little, it made me feel better. It’s weird, it’s not like a sad, weak kind of crying, and it doesn’t last long…just a few tears and deep breaths, like a release of the emotion and then it goes back inside and I keep it in my heart for a while again. I slept well, tired from the trip, stressed from the lack of personal space. It was easier the next day. We did a company run with our weapons, got really smoked, then did some classes, and ran again that evening. Of course they have a VERY limited selection of vegetarian fare at the Dining Facility, so I just eat peas, potatoes, rice, and some gravy if they have it and salad. I’m learning to love my cot…when I put my therma-rest pad on it it feels like a real bed! Our containers came with all our stuff in them, so we could set up our headquarters and my office, so at least now I have a space of my own. We set up our projector and a bunch of chairs, and I brought all 6 seasons of CSI Vegas, so we are having a marathon. We were going to watch only one episode a night, but it’s only the first night and they’ve already watched 6 episodes, so you can imagine how long it’s going to take to finish all the seasons…not as long as we thought! So that brings us to the present. I’m sitting here typing, putting off making the radio guard schedule, I need to floss my teeth, I’d like to take a shower, and I’ve had gas all day from these dumb MREs. There are only three vegetarian ones and I’m getting bored quickly. Spicy penne pasta, vegetable manicotti, and cheese tortellini. Sounds good, but trust me, they’re not even good in small doses!!!