and it begins

Today I flew for the first time since I arrived. It was a benign ferry flight from Kuwait city back to the camp. It was good to get in the aircraft again. Its odd when you don’t fly often it feels very strange the first few moments when you return. It feels as though you have forgotten everything but the moment you touch the controls its back to normal. We flew a three-helo form flight using night vision devises (nvd’s). There is simply nothing to see in kuwait.. that is unless you really enjoy sand. I think those girls who go to the beach to lay out wouldn’t mind Kuwait that much. Its those of us who think the reason to go to the beach lies in the power of those magnificent waves.
I’ve managed to twinge my achillies tendon running the other day, which is keeping me from the ‘Friday night lights’ tonight. Apparently the detachment before us made it through the week by keeping two treats, one at the end, and one at the beginning. Sunday is the only day they allow themselves desert. I am used to the boat where the desert was suspect at the best and down right terrible at the worst. Here the ‘dfac’ or dining facility has an ice cream bar not to mention a rack of pies and cakes that look amazing. Its no wonder they decided to limit themselves. I mean, free ice cream daily. Come on.
The second treat they keep sacred is the ‘Friday night lights’. A fairly gay name for the sand volleyball game. Apparently they are decent and run everyone else off the court, then play till two in the morning. I remember my days at uk as a summer advising conference councilor playing endless volleyball. Needless to say, I’m very excited about the prospect of competitive volleyball again.
The day-to-day aspect is fine. I feel almost mentally removed from the reality of being deployed. The homesickness and feeling of destitute has not even entered my mind. Last cruise was so much more complicated it seems. My life at home was filled with unresolved relational issues, but today I sit here simply a war fighter. The Bible mentions that a soldier cannot be effective if worrying about anything other than his duties. I always thought it was funny that this was mentioned. Now in fairness, it’s a small part of a larger parable, but I’ve found it to be so very true. I’m sure it holds true for all people in all occupations.
We have this terribly off base concept in the flight community known as ‘compartmentalizing’. It’s an idea demanding the person put each part of his life into a drawer and only pull them out at certain times. When you fly, your money issues, your marital problems, your new car, etc. get placed in a bin and you only fly. While this is a great concept, anyone who is a person, or at least knows one realizes the unreality of the idea. You can put some things away, but you will never be able to completely focus on anything by simply deciding to compartmentalize.
Perhaps by having your house in order you may learn greater focus, but life and its little thrills creep up whether or not you place them in a compartment or not. This is a long way to say, my house feels in order and my life separated into little drawers which simply don’t interfere with my job they way they did last year.
Last year I vowed, rather resolved to live drama free. For those of you who know me well can appreciate why the sentiment was well meaning and well deserved but ultimately ridiculously out of the realm of possibility. However I learned through the drama of the spring with a certain young lady, life’s drama does not retreat without a fight. It takes time. So those of you who watched and laughed at my vain thrashings, can now look at me and say, ‘he did it’.
Clearly this letter has no real structure or point. I value each one of you. It is a special thing to have the epiphany showing you who your true friends are and the consequent thoughts of inadequacy and thankfulness that ensue. The above is a poor way of saying how much I think of my friends and I truly do not feel worthy of you. Its been said, ‘if you claim more than three friends, you’re counting co-workers’, I’m beginning to disagree. Well, I’m off to sleep. Have a great day. Allow God to bless you in new ways today. Peace.