There is snow on the mountains

There is snow on the mountains. I spent part of the afternoon on my daily ride about (that is part of my job) taking some pictures of the mountains. They are beautiful. There is snow on the peaks and when the sun hits them just right it is amazing. I wish everyone could see them. Too bad they are not in a public place where tourists could visit. If you tried, I think we know how that would turn out. The temperature is starting to turn cooler, finally. In the mornings it is in the upper forties and lower fifties. Although it is still getting up to the mid eighties and low nineties, it feels a lot better. Maybe I am just getting used to the heat. I will take it anyway.

Over the last few weeks, I, along with a couple of others, have been learning to operate a waste water treatment plant. We will run the plant for a couple of months until the Army can put in place a contract to run it for good. Yesterday We trained on how to operate a water treatment plant. That will be a part of the operation as well. Both plants are new so we get to help start them and get the going. We get to treat water on both ends of the spectrum, if you know what I mean. There have been many jokes about running the "Poo Plant". We have laughed and laughed about taking water out of the ground, using it, treating it and sending back to the ground. I am sure we will laugh some more. We are now "poo engineers".

The forest has been growing slow lately. I have only added a couple of creatures. I have been occupied with other things it seems. I have taken a bunch of pictures that I can't wait to show everyone. There are some amazing things to photograph over here. There are a lot of things that I cannot photograph. All I know is that the Motto "LIVE FREE OR DIE," as once voiced by General John Stark, one of the most distinguished heroes of the Revolutionary War, is something I will never take for granted anymore. There are men and women over here that risk their lives every day fighting to preserve our freedom and we do not appreciate what they do for us nearly enough.

Live Free or Die. That is my new motto. I think we should all think about that every day and thank GOD that we live where we do.

I am out of the sandbox and off my soapbox and proud to be an AMERICAN!

Jeff

My birthdayi in the sandbox

Well I'm Back. It has been several days since I last was with you and I have grown a year older and a year wiser. Now I was really dreading my birthday in the sandbox alone. It is great to have family and friends around on birthdays and I was not looking forward to this one. But it was here and no family. Well it was Sunday and my day off. So I messed around the b-hut for a while and decided to go to the office to see if I could find someone to go to lunch with. Well that is when the fun began. I got to the office about 11:45 to find they were having a feast in my honor. (It was really not in my honor but that is my story and I am sticking to it) Anyway, some local Afghans had recently won a big contract with the Army guys across the hall from my office, so they brought food in to celebrate and show their appreciation. So naturally I decided why not it is my birthday. We had a big lunch of traditional Afghan food. We had lamb and goat kabobs, rice with carrots and raisins and nuts and fruit and all of the fixings. It was a great way to celebrate my birthday. Then came mail time. They deliver the mail at 1:00 on Sundays. I received two big boxes from my family. They were full of presents and pictures and fun stuff. It was great. My birthday was turning out to be really great. But, it was not over. I had to go and do a little work, (go figure), So I got a car and off I went. One of my co-workers said that she wanted to go with me. I said fine and we took off. I went and did my work and Michelle, my co-worker, said that she needed to go by the north dining facility on our way back. So we did. She told me to pull around back she had to pick something up. I let her off at the back of the DFAC and when she came out she had a very big Birthday cake. I could not believe it. She had bribed and called in favors and the like to have the dining facility make me a birthday cake. It said "Happy Birthday Jeff Go War Eagle". It was such a surprise. Now you have to realize that this kind of thing just doesn't happen. The dining facility doesn't make cakes for birthdays. They just don't. It is great to have such great family and friends. They are amazing. All this together made my birthday a great day. I am so blessed. Thank you to all who had a part in it.

On to other things. I have a new hut mate. I know you are thinking that my hut is too small for two people. Well it is not if one of them is a 3" gecko. I woke the other morning to find my new friend hanging on the wall above my head. He was a cute little thing. I decided to let him be and not get rid of him. I knew that he might keep the spiders and ants under control. I have had a time with ants. It is no fun to wake up in the middle of the night with ants crawling on you. It kinda kills the urge to sleep. I have those pesky little things under control now with the help of my friend. I also want to keep him around to act as food for any snakes that might find their way into my hut. There was a 6" cobra snake found in a b-hut the other day and another 3' cobra found on the base as well. I don't want to have any part of that.

I am up to seventeen creatures in the forest now. I will post pictures of them and of my new friend on my Facebook page soon. I will try and learn how to post pics in this blog at some point.

Well I have to go and do a little more work now. It is Sunday again (my day off). I will write more soon about my new skills that I am learning.

That is all from the sandbox for now. War Eagle!