FOB Smart at 1700 - Monday
I am a "fortunate son!" Not because of any financial wealth, but because I am rich in experience resulting from having deployed for the US Army Corps of Engineers to Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul at Forward Operating Base Smart. Challenges notwithstanding, this has been one incredible year.
Today we enjoyed a heavy, albeit very brief, spring rain, reminiscent of an Arizona monsoon. The rain came and went, just like in the Arizona desert on an afternoon in July or August. I happened to be meeting with one of my contractors for the final time when it began. The ground was soaked and swollen in a matter of minutes. The air here, usually clean smelling after such a deluge in the Arizona desert, was a little less dusty and most of the odors were abated, if only briefly. There can be no doubt that the downpour was welcomed throughout Qalat.
Other than meeting a contractor in the rain, I met with several other contractors, visiting Romanian Army friends, and observed nearby construction progress, from within the confines of the FOB - atop our perimeter walls, and thoroughly enjoyed today. Most people begin to behave in a manner consistent with winning the lottery and scoring free tickets to a rock concert or sporting event without having to pay for them when they reach this point in their deployment. Well, maybe this analogy fails, because I paid for this departure with a year of trials, tribulations, and encouraging work that kept me challenged every minute of nearly every day. I recognize, possibly from all of my recent skipping and whistling, that my exuberance in everything that I do has climbed to a whole new level.
Tomorrow is my final full day here in Qalat. Wednesday, at some point, my "ride" will whisk me away toward freedom and ultimately reunion - with my son, my family, my friends, et al. I cannot tell you, again, just how very much I am excited to be going "home" to my semi-charmed life. Tonight I plan to pack more, finish my laundry, separate the throw-away from the give-away gear (supplies, toiletries, etc.), and relax a little bit.
143, Kaesen.
Good night and good day.
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