Hello, I hope everyone is doing well or at least doing your best under the circumstances.
Today, I talked with a man (about mid-forties in years ) wearing an Army National Guard uniform. I ran into him during lunch, he was with his wife and eleven year old daughter. I knew that his nineteen year old son had enlisted in the Marines and was in his thirteen week training in South Carolina. During our five minute chat . . .
(over the fold)
I learned that the Dad is preparing for his third deployment in 2010 to either Kuwait or Afghanistan. His son, 19 years old, joined the Marines and is in the middle of his boot camp in South Carolina.
"The Dad" had previously served in Afghanistan and spoke fondly of his time there. He did not speak about his time in Iraq.
He shared with me that his son was ordered into one of two dinner lines at boot camp: One for kids who need to lose weight, the baked chicken and baked potato line (with fruit) or the fried chicken and mashed potato line with your choice of dessert, depending on whether the military believes it's best to lose weight or gain weight. His son was in the "gain weight" category and very relieved about that.
Ordinary people having lunch, extraordinary folks in our midst.
It's a rare thing, I'm home tonight, watching birds, I have hummers now and my usual collection.
With the healthcare battle and all the weirdos in Washington/South Carolina/ Alaska (couldn't resist) and all other known and unknown locations, things seem a little off kilter to me.
Open Threads are good because you can generally talk about anything on your mind.
So I've written this diary as an Open Thread for you to talk about your day, anything on your mind.