Day 91

Happy New Year (s eve). I have been greatly chasticed, and properly so, by many people, friends and family alike, for being negligent with my photography duties. Such is not my intent to leave those at home in the dark about my surroundings, but rather my lack of interest in picture taking. How, oh how, will I be able to satisfy the requests of those whose voice I hear, like a cry in the wilderness? I have spent many long hours, well, maybe seconds, trying to figure out how to properly fulfill the multitude of requests for pictures, and like a two-by-four to the skull, it finally occured to me; we have a Public Affairs Office whose mission it is to take pictures, documenting our journey here and back again. For the most part, those pictures you see will have not have been taken by me, but rather either by a member of the PAO office, or by a loyal contributor. Phew! Now that that's out of the way, here are a few pictures. I have often written about my adventure, using the word 'journey'. When I read a book or watch a movie, I take a particular enjoyment in the journey; let me see, either on the screen or in my minds eye, the steps taken by the character as their jouney is made. I want to see the mistakes, the triumphs, the daily grind, that makes this character who they are. Some writers are a bit too ponderous, and I find the journey a bit tedious. Books such as "Moby Dick" or "Silas Marner" bore me to tears. Well, my jouney has not been a completely uneventful experience. For those of you who know my love of flying, you'll enjoy these pictures. In one, we're finding our seats to get on the plane; another, we're so much cargo on that plane; and the third is our happy release from the confines of our flight. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of flying the friendly skies with the US Military, look at the pictures and compare it to the last commercial flight you took. I, for one, will be very hesitant the next time I think of complaining because there wasn't enough ice with my 7-Up. By the way, if you're looking for me, I'm somewhere in the middle, front to back, and somewhere in the middle, side to side. Those of us in the middle are facing forward, just in case you can't tell the front from the back. For those of you who care, I was told that this aircraft is a C-17.