I finally got to see what rain looks like in Iraq. Well, sort of. A couple nights ago I went outside and I couldn't believe how much lightning was flashing all over the place. It wasn't the normal kind because there was mostly no noise. Once in a while there'd be a little rumble, but it was pretty much just flashes and jags by the second, all over the sky. It was pretty entertaining... I popped some popcorn in my microwave and went out to watch it. It had been overcast all day... by which I mean some really high, whispy (yes, that's how I want you to pronounce it) clouds that did a reasonable job of blocking a tiny bit of the the sunlight. It wasn't even a distant cousin to an Oregon cloud cover, in fact if the two got together, I'm sure they could sire some completely new type of cloud formations. So, after the lightning got done, the rain came on stage... if I remember right, there were about 9 drops in all. I have always heard that if you get caught in the rain in Iraq you don't so much get rained on as you are subjected to a waterboarding. I suppose this country must have some intelligence that it needs to gather from unsuspecting travelers. In the end, however, the result was the general and pervasive odor of a barn. It was a bit of a shock, after the couple of drops that found their way down by my room were fallen, I went back out and was immediately transported back to the huge building full of ducks that I spent tedious hours in as a young Amish man. I am still mystified as to why getting the ground damp would make it smell like that, it's not like there are animals around here. Anyway, it didn't rain much this time, and it's a clear sky again. I suppose it was just trying to taunt us with a taste of the torture to come. People who have been here since the last rainy season say that when it does start to rain (day and night for a week) everything will turn into gummy mud and there will no place be sacred from it. Yippy, I can't wait (read sarcastically with downward inflection in voice).

Life continues as normal here. The temperature has continued to drop, as long as I'm not doing something energetic I rarely sweat during the day anymore, and in the low 70s, the nights are becoming downright nippy. During the above mentioned rain night, the wind got to blustering around quite a bit, and I was shivering openly while outside in my pt shorts and shirt. I looked at the thermometer and it said 74 (brrrr!)

The other day we got a surprise visit from a couple of explosive projectiles here at Adder... there were a couple really loud bangs, but as usual, no one got hurt. And, as usual, I had a good laugh within myself about how even with this one simple task of blowing up infidels, the neighbors just can't seem to get it right. I'll tell you what, forget about the big coalition army that's occupying this place, if I were the insurgents, I'd give up out of embarrassment... but that's just me.

On another note... I am now studying to join the Catholic church. I know there are some of you out there who will be saddened by that, and I feel the impulse to justify it here, but I will resist. Someday hopefully there will be more humility in the church as it applies to all Christians, and people won't be so quick to discount how another Christian (and I use that name in it's intended meaning) interprets and applies the principals of faith. There are really only two things by which people can see we are serious about our faith: 1. they watch us die for it, or 2. they see charity lived in all our life (once again, the intended meaning). Neither is natural, so the moral of the story is that we have to rely on God to be in us what we can't possibly be. THAT is who I want to fellowship with, not Catholic, not Protestant, not Nondenominational (notice the usage of a proper noun). Ok, enough soapbox for me.

Speaking of which... have you ever tried to stand on a Tide detergent box while championing an issue that's important to you, ? It turns out that it's not as empowering as we're led to believe.

I do now call to mind my sins and ask your forgiveness in my omission. Did you know I am currently living with a couple miles of Abraham's birthplace? You can see the Ziggurat Ur from this base. I believe that is the temple associated with the moon goddess in the town of Ur. The people around here say it is one of the oldest buildings in the world. Also I know that near here is an arch which is the oldest in the world. For such a desolate and dead place there is certainly a lot of history here. Also, yes, there is still a town here called Ur, and they believe the remains of Abraham's house still exist although it is only a foundation. I can't believe it took me this long to blog that.

In other matters... I would say in lighter matters, but having a disability is no laughing matter. Anyway, it is finally official that my poor memory is in fact a disability. Last night I walked over to the area where our new medic is staying in order to straighten some matter up. As I went about the task of making the corrections I was there to make, it came to my attention that I was instructing the wrong person. It wouldn't be so embaressing if not for the fact that I knew both individuals involved. I'm really starting to wonder if I actually have a physiological pathology because it is commonplace for me to forget names and words while I am speaking. I actually find I am much more comfortable with writing. Forgetting names is one thing, but speaking to a friend about another friend and forgetting both above mentioned friends names in mid sentence as well as the adjective you were trying to use can be very disconcerting. I am truly ignorant as to whether this condition exists among any of my reading audience? Truly among any of my acquaintences at all. I read that it can be a symptom of an underactive thyroid, but isn't that also associated with weight gain? On a final note: my wife was not sympathetic at all to my plight. Once I told her about my embaressment she flew into gales of laughter that forced her to pull off the road lest she lose control of the vehicle. It was some time before she was capable of coherent speech. When she said she was intending to tell her family about it (by which I am sure everyone she knows is implied) I told her I wasn't worried, that she would try, probably several times, but I could rest confident that the few short words people were able to understand between the renewed merriment would not be sufficient to pick up the gist of the story, much less the subject. All this to say that if Bonnie calls you and is rendered catatonic by her mirth after only about 2 or 3 words you won't have the anxiety of trying to figure out what she's talking about.

Good day.