GUNS AND BUTTER DON'T MIX

It's Monday afternoon in Iraq. I'm starting to try a few new things in order to avoid 'island fever' (staying on the base feels like a small island). On Saturday, I went swimming at the 25 meter pool. Although indoors, it is still a chilly 70 something degrees. It was a nice change of pace and I will try to keep up with it. I also looked into guitar lessons at MWR (morale, welfare, recreation) but it's in a large group, with few guitars. I strummed a few chords just to confirm that I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm not sure if I'll continue given that private lessons would be best.

The weather is nice these days. There hasn't been a sand storm in almost a week, a change from past weeks. The temperature is climbing into the low 80s, and the worst is yet to come.

I am hoping to visit Abraham's Oasis sometime soon. It's located on base and purported to be a stopping point for Abraham in his travels to the Promised Land. From the pictures I have seen, it's a lush green oasis with date trees. Aside from its biblical value, it truly is an oasis in a land of desert sand. I can't wait to see it just for the change of scenery.

Oh, okay, about the butter thing. I can't buy butter anywhere and I can't get it shipped in. So, occasionally I take some tiny butter cups (plastic bottom, paper top) from the dining hall to put on the bread I keep in the office. Several times, I've forgotten to take it out of my pocket but there's been no leakage. This time, I left 3 of them in my pocket for hours and with the hot weather..... I was getting out of my truck going to dinner when I felt something wet in my right pocket. At first I didn't realize it was butter until I put my hand in my pocket. Yuck!! I managed to clean out the mess, go to dinner, and then beg the Turkish presser to iron my other uniform right then. Thankfully I have 3 uniforms to wear but nothing else!!

I watched hockey on TV last night (Detroit vs. Minnesota). It was a great game with Detroit scoring the wining goal with less than 1 minute left in the game. It reminded me how much I miss playing the game. I need to see how my team is doing at home.

That's all for today. I hope everyone is doing well.