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Thursday, September 01, 2005
HAPPY SEPTEMBER!!!
It's just past midnight here and that means it's officially SEPTEMBER! I quote Homer when I say, "Woo-hoo!" (Okay so that was the cartoon Homer that I was quoting. Give me a break.)
This is huge for me as the things that I've always dreaded most while we were heading into Iraq (other than all the unknowns of being in a foreign land, possibly being in combat, etc.) were June, July, and August. I'm such a cold weather guy that I don't like it when it's 100-degrees at home when I'm in hiking shorts and sandals, much less here where it peaked at just under 130 and we wear up to 80 pounds of gear. I have always celebrated the first day of September (while Sally, a lover of warmer temps, mourned this day as the passing of summer) but this one means so much more. Not only have I made it through the Middle East's hottest months, but it's another month closer to being home with Sally and Lillian.
September has always been a month of change for me, for new beginnings. We've already started the process of packing up and there's a chance that some of us might already be moving over to the KRAB before the month is out. We'll be living back in tents again, won't have wireless Internet (thus my blog postings and photos will be fewer and farther between), and won't have as easy access to telephones, but it's the first step toward the journey home.
And the weather has already started to turn, hallelujah! The website that I check our weather on is offering up better predictions for the days ahead. When the temperature is listed to hit 110 or more, they put up a full moon symbol. I don't know why, but I think they either just ran out of symbols at that point or are suggesting that it's so hot you not even go outside until it's night time. Long ago we stopped checking the site regularly because it would constantly be nothing but five moons with temps well over 110 predicted for the next five days. No longer!
The other day I checked, and there they were: like some slot machine jackpot, three lovely sun symbols popped up with daytime highs around a mere 103. Better still, I checked the site again today and now day five is listed as something that we haven't seen or heard of in a long time: 'partly sunny'. Not blazing hot, not sauna hot, not broiling or blast furnace hot, not hours and hours of baking sunshine with nary a cloud or breeze in sight to make you feel like a little dancing bead of water on a red hot griddle, but PARTLY sunny. Oh, the glories of September have already begun, with hopefully more clouds, more breezes, and - dare I hope - maybe even mere double-digit temperatures on the way!
This is huge for me as the things that I've always dreaded most while we were heading into Iraq (other than all the unknowns of being in a foreign land, possibly being in combat, etc.) were June, July, and August. I'm such a cold weather guy that I don't like it when it's 100-degrees at home when I'm in hiking shorts and sandals, much less here where it peaked at just under 130 and we wear up to 80 pounds of gear. I have always celebrated the first day of September (while Sally, a lover of warmer temps, mourned this day as the passing of summer) but this one means so much more. Not only have I made it through the Middle East's hottest months, but it's another month closer to being home with Sally and Lillian.
September has always been a month of change for me, for new beginnings. We've already started the process of packing up and there's a chance that some of us might already be moving over to the KRAB before the month is out. We'll be living back in tents again, won't have wireless Internet (thus my blog postings and photos will be fewer and farther between), and won't have as easy access to telephones, but it's the first step toward the journey home.
And the weather has already started to turn, hallelujah! The website that I check our weather on is offering up better predictions for the days ahead. When the temperature is listed to hit 110 or more, they put up a full moon symbol. I don't know why, but I think they either just ran out of symbols at that point or are suggesting that it's so hot you not even go outside until it's night time. Long ago we stopped checking the site regularly because it would constantly be nothing but five moons with temps well over 110 predicted for the next five days. No longer!
The other day I checked, and there they were: like some slot machine jackpot, three lovely sun symbols popped up with daytime highs around a mere 103. Better still, I checked the site again today and now day five is listed as something that we haven't seen or heard of in a long time: 'partly sunny'. Not blazing hot, not sauna hot, not broiling or blast furnace hot, not hours and hours of baking sunshine with nary a cloud or breeze in sight to make you feel like a little dancing bead of water on a red hot griddle, but PARTLY sunny. Oh, the glories of September have already begun, with hopefully more clouds, more breezes, and - dare I hope - maybe even mere double-digit temperatures on the way!
Posted by: Unknown / 1:03 AM 
