Wake up and smell the old World…

OK so I’ve heard from several of you wondering what’s going on. Why no new blog entries? Well one of the very few benefits of being here so long is this thing called leave. I left Iraq for a few weeks for a bit of Rest and Relaxation. What a relief it is to breathe air not laced with Mesopotamian dust and smoke from burning tires. I opted to meet my girlfriend in Europe for a couple weeks instead of taking the long flight back 11 time zones. Our itinerary included time in Germany and France. Even the noise and auto pollution of Paris was - well a “breath of fresh air.”

I took this opportunity to fulfill a long awaited goal. Being the history buff I am, we visited the allied invasion beaches of Normandy. Trying to explain all the sights and emotions will require several entries of their own but just know the experience of visiting such historical places as Pegasus Bridge, Omaha and Utah beach, Pont du Hoc and Ste. Mere Eglise at this particular time in my life was ironic… educational… contextual…

We followed this up with a trip to the Burgundy region for some really amazing food and wine… actually after all the KBR meals, a Twinkie and Thunder-Bird alcoholic grape juice is amazing food and wine. Trust me when I say we ate and drank like royalty. Hmmm - I forgot what real food tastes like. From Burgundy we headed to the Black Forrest of Germany. Did I ever mention I hate the desert? Wow - I forgot what fresh water, trees and mountain air is like - so crisp… so sweet. After a pit stop in Baden-Baden for a spa treatment and some Chinese food we made a side-trip to visit a small town named Neuenburg; the namesake of a close friend. (By the way Mr. Neuenburg, you may want to go back to the old country to fix-up the family castle, it sprung a leak in the roof some hundred years ago and the water damage is pretty severe. On the plus side the massive stone walls are still pretty damned impressive.) After a rather peppy 3 digit speed on the Deutsche Autobahn – “Wow this little car can really go this fast!” – We headed back to Paris. Amazing - I forgot what freedom of travel is like. In Paris we visited Euro Disney and saw Harry Potter on the big screen. Oh yeah - I forgot how much I love the entertainment industry.

Now that I’m back to my “favorite” land of sand, 120 + temperatures, hostile-fire, restricted movement and processed food I will simply say the real significance of my trip isn’t so much that I got some much needed sleep and time to decompress. It’s more that I had an awakening. I realized how deeply involved I became in my work here and how many things I took for granted or simply forgot about. I realized just how home sick I am. Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary that I left my civilian life for military duty. I am ready to finish up this tour and get back to my family, friends, career, and most importantly the wonders of my previous life.