Back East

I haven’t written in a while, far longer than I had intended to go without writing. However, I spent the last few days away from “home,” toward the eastern part of the province. The Army has many FOBs around Afghanistan, and I found myself at one smaller and far less comfortable than Gardez, for the better part of the week.

It was an interesting trip, even though there were no real engineering projects for me to see. We traveled around with local government officials and saw various completed projects, and some sites for proposed projects. But more interesting was the rain we got. I had been saying since I got here, that I have never seen more beautiful weather in my life. That changed this week, with rain and cold that reminded me of the spring weather in Vermont. It only added to the less than enjoyable time I had “on the road.” However, we could see the rain already greening things up on the way home. Afghanistan is in a ten year drought, so when the rain hits, all the plants soak it up and turn the country-side green… well, greenish brown. It almost looks like spring now.

With that said, this past week taught me that it’s nice to get out and travel, (it makes the time go by) but sometimes, it is nice to be on the home FOB; which I appreciate much more now, than I did just a few days ago.

Thank you and God Bless