North America at approximately
0100 Pacific/0400 Eastern
We left Dubai about 11 hours ago;
we have about three hours remaining on this flight. For whatever reason I
always report before I make this flight that it will be along 17 hours when in
fact it is somewhere around 14 hours. Believe me, three extra hours makes a
difference and would ultimately mean three more agonizing hours of tailbone
misery for me. The end of the long cross-the-world journey is coming into view.
Flying of North America is a good feeling. We have traveled over 6,000 miles at
roughly seven miles above the earth. This is such an amazing concept. I have
blogged before about how the travel can perplex the mind; it is not normal to
see more than one sunrise and more than one sunset in a single 24-hour period.
Coming home is as though we are traveling back in time. The Boeing 777 is such
a magnificent aircraft and quite the lap of luxury; business class, with their
reclining beds, would be even better! I am now excited to someday fly on the
Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
I have watched four movies on
this flight; well, three and I am into my fourth now. This is not so unusual
for me, as I watch an incredible amount of movies, or least I have this past
year (the goal will now be to immerse myself in the “real world” and share
every waking moment possible with my son. I have also slept some, when I could,
although the excitement of seeing Kaesen is dashing any real hope for rest. My
plan now is to try to stay awake until tonight, so another18 hours if possible,
and sleep on the east coast schedule to jumpstart my body back into our reality
here. We’ll see how well this plan moves from thought to action – or inaction
as it were. Tomorrow night at 2000 I land in Seattle – and into the return of
my life.
With this deployment nearly
completely over – it ends tomorrow when I walk out of the US Army Corps of
Engineers Deployment Center, my mind is racing with an idea for closing out
this blog. Of course I plan to share my journey over the next week as I enjoy
my reintegration leave (it is considered part of the yearlong deployment). On
my mind though are the thoughts and experiences I could not blog about while at
FOB Smart, or Kandahar Airfield, or the wealth of other thoughts and feelings I
encountered along the way. This blog has purposefully been positive (as much as
I could allow it to be or intentionally shape it to be) but there is always darkness with light;
there is always another story or someone else’s story, or a portion of the
story untold for whatever reason. All of this and more, I am considering how to
close shop. Tune in soon for the finale.
143, Kaesen.
Good night and good day.
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