So I made it to my new post. This is where I will be for the next year(ugh). I am living in another container or "CHU", this time with only one other roommate. His name Jason Cohen and we get along famously. We will hopefully be getting a satelite dish internet system soon so I can get online from the comfort of my own metal box. They cleverly located us at the edge of a rocket test fire range so we can use the heavy machine guns and explosions as an alarm clock.
It is nice to be able to unpack. Being in Kuwait sucks in a very special way because you are living out of a duffle bag on a cot. The bathrooms and showers are very clean and we have plenty(knock on wood) water. We live in a very secluded area where we will hopefully be left alone to get some work done(and maybe play a game or two of spades).
I can recieve mail now. I have a wishlist for anyone with extra dollars;)
-Hoyle's "book of rules" (to settle spades disputes)
-Subscription to Cycle World (for when no one wants to play spades)
-Photos of the family and friends (for the walls of the CHU)
-Clothes hangars (they don't sell them here)
-AAA batteries (also don't sell those here)
Bree gets her own wishlist mailing list:
-Monopod
-Conspiracy book
-Asimov/Clarke Sci-Fi Book
My address is:
Bert Anderson
Bravo Company 2-10 AVN
COB Speicher, Iraq
APO, AE 09393
I haven't gotten to my camera yet so you all still have a few days of waiting to see what this place looks like.
When we flew up here(to northern Iraq) we crossed a huge open expanse littered with the rusted carcases of Saddam's tanks. There is really very little in this country outside the fertile cresent of the Tigris and Euphrates. Baghdad looks like every other city at night. Some of the landscapes here look exactly like Mars only with fewer terrain features. Flying here is going to get boring fast.
My time is running out so I have to say goodbye for now.
Later on peeps,
-Bert
63 Years of Memories....
63 Years of Memories....
that's what I have now. The photo below shows the chair on the point which for so many years was my father's favorite after-supper place to contemplate and cast for walleye. As much as I feel guilty about what's happened, I know he would understand and even say there's nothing to forgive. He lived life fully and moved on many times. I'm the one with the unique experience of being attached to a beautiful place for my whole life. And despite all my best efforts, yesterday the 'cabin' was sold. I signed the papers and, truth be told, a weight was lifted. A new life lies ahead without the obligations, but with all of the wonderful memories. My unrelentingly positive attitude says this is truly how it is, but my heart is still sad.
There are some things in life for which the balance between the obligation and the joy of ownership often cannot be sustained forever. It became clear that I was no longer up to the task of taking care of the place quite a while back. However, knowing what needs to be done and doing it are often far apart. Finally, no choice was left. It had to be sold.
Now it's gone. No more worrying about how long the grass or how deep the snow is up there. No more sublimely pleasurable early morning cups of coffee sitting on the dock when the color of the lake is like pale blue glass and the air is completely still. No more endless repairs, high taxes, and utility bills. No more late nights around the fire pit with friends and family - warm from both fire and friendship. No more frozen pipes or emergency calls to the furnace guys. No more saunas and midnight skinny dipping that make you feel like you'll live forever while your connection with nature is confirmed by the gazillion stars of the milky way and the loons calling out in the dark. No more concerns with low well water levels or water so hard and full of iron the clothes turn yellow and your newly washed hair feels like brillo. No more finding the way home by boat in the dark after a long day on the lake feeling like this is the only place you really, really belong. No more praying that the boathouse will make it another year without collapsing. And ultimately, no more making new memories with friends, family and loved ones. No new memories, that is, at Half Bay, Lake Vermilion, Tower, MN. New life... here we come!
How do you thank a place for memories?
3 comments:
I've rediscovered RSS. I have 'feeds' for everything from Slashdot, overnight Fed Funds Effective rates, xkcd, Change.gov and of course this blog.
So now instead of randomly checking here anywhere from multiple times a day to forgetting for a couple weeks. I now get updated every half hour, even on my phone.
So no more missing posts =)
Bert,
Thanks for the update.
Glad you now know what'll be your home for the year. Good thing you have a good roommate.
Cold here now. 24 degrees this am.
Waiting for pics.
Be careful.
Love
Dad
A package is on the way w/ some random old photos. I'll get some new ones printed and send w/ batteries and the Hoyle book today or tomorrow.
Glad you like your roomie. That makes all the difference.
Thinking of you.
hugs, Mom
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