Chasing the Sun

After spending almost a week in purgatory and suffering through countless delays we finally departed Kuwait Sunday afternoon and began our trip home. We are crowded into a DC-10 with two other units which is much different than the almost empty plane we took over here. While we would all prefer the room to spread out, it doesn’t matter, just as long as it gets us home.

Flying west we are chasing the sun. The light coming in from under the rounded window shades is evidence that we are still hanging onto daylight even when it is usually dark by this hour. Sliding the shades open reveal a world below us much different from the bleached and shapeless terrain of the Middle East. Pastures and farms of Germany are a spectacular shade of green. I’m unsure if the green is so vibrant due to the onset of spring or if it’s because my eyes are not use to this hue in the color spectrum. It is nice to look at.

It’s starting to set in a little, that is, the feeling that I’m going home. I’m unsure if I was subconsciously not pondering my homecoming during my stay in Kuwait because I was still in the Middle East, or if it was because being surrounded by people with guns and uniforms didn’t have that “homey” feeling. Regardless, I began my trip home around 6pm on Saturday when we loaded up our bags and made our way from Camp Virginia to our first of many stops home. Customs was difficult because of all the stuff that the Army decided to issue us, they neglected to give us octopus arms to carry the 4 dufflebags, rucksack, backpacks and team boxes for a few of us. None of us were going to let this stop us from getting out of there, so we muscled through it so we could wait another half day in isolation while they prepared the plane for us.

It’s almost dark now as we leave Germany to jump the “pond”. We’ll be in the US soon. Getting out and kissing the ground might very Pope-like, but if I just might do that if I’m not too tired.