Hello Blogosphere!
Dropping a line today to write on a compilation of some of my encounters. As much as it seems that every day is the same and that I'm sometimes stuck in our own version of Groundhog Day, a good number of varied events have and are occurring. Instead of filing them away, thought I'd share some of the bits and pieces of my last couple months.
Hmmm, where to begin? We've had a number of visitors through our doors in the past few weeks. The typical officer "brass" doesn't really count because they always find a way to make appearances to which we generally respond with a choreographed dog-n-pony show (no judging now, I know this is normal even outside military ranks!). However, some of our more interesting visitors have shown up rather unexpectedly and made for quite pleasant breaks in the monotony.
One of our pilots has a brother who is a dog handler in the Army. As he was travelling home after more than a year in country, he stopped by and caught some much deserved r&r and brought his doggie along too! Akita is a mutt dog (sorta) who looks much like a German Shepard, is four years old yet acted like a puppy. She is a bomb sniffing dog who had an obession for empty water bottles. We'd throw her one and watch and she crunched on it (very loudly) while running round the building trying to trick someone into thinking she'd give it up. Akita and her handler were a hoot to have around even if was only for a few short days.
Our other notable visitor was a photojournalist for the NY Times. Well to be more accurate he's a freelance journalist who often has work picked up by major circulations such as the NYT, Washington Post and Newsweek. He's what one might a call a free spirit. Originally from Holland, he's spent the last few years documenting the trials of the human journey from desperate places like Afghanistan and Pakistan and even rode an illegal boat ride from Morocco to Spain with 30 immigrants fleeing the bonds of third-world poverty for a better life in Europe (nearly drown doing it). He has done amazing work capturing our current war. Given access to ride along with some of the most daring operations, he has been able to showcase the battlefield from the perspective of those that endure it, live amongst it and even those who initiate it. He truly has a gift to be able to breath meaning into what, a snapshot ago, was merely just another moment in the rough sands of (war)time.
Our other visitors were of the Bob Hope variety. That's right, the USO came! And they brought s'mores!!!!! I politely ignored the fact that the reps were clearly selected to appeal to the likes of my male counterparts and instead helped myself to an extra serving (or three--what?! i'm working-out) of the chocolatey-gooey goodness which naturally ended up immodestly on my face as much as in my tummy. In addition to the sugar highs, they also brought tricycles. Tricycles? Well it just wouldn't be right to enjoy a childhood favorite without also partaking in a childhood past-time would it? So we raced! There we were, the preeminent air force in the history of time skidding around combat aircraft on none other than Little Tikes. We raced with our knees hitting the handlebars and stupid looking red-white&blue '80s headbands crowning our nuggets. But....it was fun!
I'm sure we'll have s'more visitors as our tenure extends and I'll be sure to take note if they bring a certain reportable aspect worthy of making the blog, but for now I better go to sleep.
I would like to thank the good people at drugstore.com for my special toiletries "care package"--so what that I was the one who ordered it?! And thanks Grandma for the note--my reply is already in the mail! Finally I'm was absolutely floored that Mom and Dad's package made it here in five days where the usual transit is two weeks! Thanks for the soup, mama!
Will visit again soon,
Olivia
Dropping a line today to write on a compilation of some of my encounters. As much as it seems that every day is the same and that I'm sometimes stuck in our own version of Groundhog Day, a good number of varied events have and are occurring. Instead of filing them away, thought I'd share some of the bits and pieces of my last couple months.
Hmmm, where to begin? We've had a number of visitors through our doors in the past few weeks. The typical officer "brass" doesn't really count because they always find a way to make appearances to which we generally respond with a choreographed dog-n-pony show (no judging now, I know this is normal even outside military ranks!). However, some of our more interesting visitors have shown up rather unexpectedly and made for quite pleasant breaks in the monotony.
One of our pilots has a brother who is a dog handler in the Army. As he was travelling home after more than a year in country, he stopped by and caught some much deserved r&r and brought his doggie along too! Akita is a mutt dog (sorta) who looks much like a German Shepard, is four years old yet acted like a puppy. She is a bomb sniffing dog who had an obession for empty water bottles. We'd throw her one and watch and she crunched on it (very loudly) while running round the building trying to trick someone into thinking she'd give it up. Akita and her handler were a hoot to have around even if was only for a few short days.
Our other notable visitor was a photojournalist for the NY Times. Well to be more accurate he's a freelance journalist who often has work picked up by major circulations such as the NYT, Washington Post and Newsweek. He's what one might a call a free spirit. Originally from Holland, he's spent the last few years documenting the trials of the human journey from desperate places like Afghanistan and Pakistan and even rode an illegal boat ride from Morocco to Spain with 30 immigrants fleeing the bonds of third-world poverty for a better life in Europe (nearly drown doing it). He has done amazing work capturing our current war. Given access to ride along with some of the most daring operations, he has been able to showcase the battlefield from the perspective of those that endure it, live amongst it and even those who initiate it. He truly has a gift to be able to breath meaning into what, a snapshot ago, was merely just another moment in the rough sands of (war)time.
Our other visitors were of the Bob Hope variety. That's right, the USO came! And they brought s'mores!!!!! I politely ignored the fact that the reps were clearly selected to appeal to the likes of my male counterparts and instead helped myself to an extra serving (or three--what?! i'm working-out) of the chocolatey-gooey goodness which naturally ended up immodestly on my face as much as in my tummy. In addition to the sugar highs, they also brought tricycles. Tricycles? Well it just wouldn't be right to enjoy a childhood favorite without also partaking in a childhood past-time would it? So we raced! There we were, the preeminent air force in the history of time skidding around combat aircraft on none other than Little Tikes. We raced with our knees hitting the handlebars and stupid looking red-white&blue '80s headbands crowning our nuggets. But....it was fun!
I'm sure we'll have s'more visitors as our tenure extends and I'll be sure to take note if they bring a certain reportable aspect worthy of making the blog, but for now I better go to sleep.
I would like to thank the good people at drugstore.com for my special toiletries "care package"--so what that I was the one who ordered it?! And thanks Grandma for the note--my reply is already in the mail! Finally I'm was absolutely floored that Mom and Dad's package made it here in five days where the usual transit is two weeks! Thanks for the soup, mama!
Will visit again soon,
Olivia
