Rain

I'm back in Balad.

A soldier and I heard there was a new Italian restaurant on base so we went on a walk to find such a place. Why? Just because it's something new. We didn't know where we were going so it was quite a journey. We talked about this and that. I went on about how I wished I could go to where the treeline hides the great sand dunes before the ocean. I wished I could feel the mist on my face on a rainy day. In fact I even raised my hands up and said, "I want it to rain!" True story. Much to my surprise the sky did not open and send a flood down, but the sky seemed to brighten with strokes of light. "Is that lightening?" I asked the soldier. "No I think it's some kind of beacon," he said. So we walked on and finally stumbled upon a small trailer with a deck and picnic tables. "Don't you feel just like Lawrence of Arabia crossing the desert?" I asked. "No," he said.
Inside the restaurant plastic, lime green chairs were set up beside little white tables. A line of soldiers waited to place their orders, we decided on pasta and pizza. We sat down at a table and within a few minutes a soldier walked in with a few dark spots on his shirt. I chalked it up to strange sweat stains, but then a whole group of soldiers came in laughing and wiping something off their arms and faces. I began to suspect that something was happening outside. "Its raining!" one girl shrieked with a laugh. But was it really raining? Was it possible? We ate quickly, good pizza, good pasta.
Outside the mist hit our faces and the sidewalks were already covered in mud. For the first time in nearly five months it was raining. We walked in the rain that was, well less then a drizzle and more like a fine sweat.
The next day the rain came and left at random intervals. The damp air and cloudy sky felt somber, especially after we heard word that a UH-60 Blawkhawk had crashed on base. One soldier was killed and 12 were wounded. It seemed only right for it to rain.
Read more at: http://www.katu.com/news/60003362.html

Stories about my work with the 41st Infantry will appear on kval.com and katu.com someday soon...