A Couple of days of 'Freedom' remaining!

Hey everyone!  I suppose many of you students are savouring the last couple of days left of summer vacation, then it's 'back to the same old grind'.  Then most people will look forward to the upcoming weekend, the next long weekend, Christmas Break, etc..  I just wanted to share with you a thought here that hit me - try not to count the days down to the next date in the future - as if the present day had no worth.  I guess the thought came to me (and it wasn't a thought while shaving either) after moping myself about the tour, and hearing others talk about our stay here like it is some sort of prison sentence where we mark time and wait for the date.  I've been seeing all sorts of people leaving and coming, and now - I'm no longer the 'new kid on the block' (and no - not the Boy Band either!  Haha!).   Many look depressed and grumpy - like some of the students look on the first day of school.  (Which usually - is an indication of a loooooong year for those kids)   The question came to me - when does life / living begin?  Well, the answer is 'right here, right now!'  So yes - we all have to make the most of our present circumstance, because Our Lord placed us in whatever we find ourselves in.  He knows we can handle it.  So - from now on, I'm gonna try to seek more ways of improving myself here in this dustbowl.  I hope I can present a new and improved me when I return!  ;)  Haha!

 

The weather is cooling down - still warm, but not raging hot anymore.  We're told it'll get pretty darn cold here too, since the sand holds no heat.

 

Things work in sporadics here.  It'll be quiet, then suddenly, we have to react to something.  It's a weird feeling waiting for 'the other shoe to drop' - which sometimes happens... since the other shoe dropping tends to be pretty dramatic - sometimes involving lives.  It is a surreal place, you wake up with the sounds of weapons... and go to sleep with sounds of weapons.  The other day a lone tree here next to our dining hall filled with birds.  It gathered a crowd under it of soldiers, sailors and airmen who stopped to watch the birds chirp away.  Weird to see tough guys appreciate something as simple as that!  Well - you should stop and smell the roses, or look up to see the birds flutter and chirp, and once a day - stop and appreciate the blessing of the day God gave us, be it in the city, a school, ...or in a dusty place like this.  Onward with the adventure!  Shall we?....  ;)