More from Mortaritaville

This is a photo that I took last night at Trish's where we had a big family Christmas dinner, minus our FlyBoy who spent his "holiday" in Iraq.  I chose this scene for this entry because of the Americana/mail theme, and especially the I WANT YOU...Uncle Sam poster on the front of the building.  

Steve has an amazing TrueValue/Ace Hardware Christmas Village that he lovingly puts in place each year, and it takes him about 2 days to complete.  It spans the entire living room and dining room, covering every flat space and even under a table in the foyer of their beautiful home.   Then, by the time New Year's Day arrives, he painstakingly puts each piece back in it's original box, marked with the date of purchase.  I am awed by his patience!

Thankfully, FlyBoy called us on Christmas day!  He said he was given the choice of flying or going for the holiday run around the base, and of course he'd chosen to fly.  But, instead they had a wet, muddy holiday which prevented him from flying due to the low cloud ceiling.  He said the rain doesn't really penetrate the sand and creates a terrible, muddy mess. 

In the Army tradition, the troops at his camp were served a huge Christmas dinner by their commanders.  Dinner included all the expected holiday main courses, plus steak and LOBSTER tails! He said it was an excellent meal!  I am grateful that the military will go to the expense of feeding the soldiers so well, all considered.

"Hawk Eye" is the new nickname that my son has been bestowed by his fellow pilots.  I guess because of his excellent eyesight and former military police observation skills, he's developed a real gift for following his gut instinct and checking out things that appear out of the ordinary.  As a result he's recently found IEDs (explosive devices) and other freshly dug bomb sites in fields, etc.  The ground troops are then called in to blow them up so the military convoys are not hit!   The most recent IED he found was again stuffed inside a dead dog along the highway, that appeared to have a leash on it.  FlyBoy said he got to thinking that the Iraqis never walk dogs with a leash.  So he went back to check it out and discovered the "leash" was really a cable for a bomb. 

Good going Soldier!