Downhill

It's a beautiful winter day here in Afghanistan.  It's hard to believe we're on the downhill portion of this deployment.  Roughly five more months and we should be coming home.  We haven't been too busy, but we did arrive here during the winter which historically speaking is not the "busy" time of the year.  As the anticipation of warmer weather draws near, so too does the likelihood of an increase in "business".  When we arrived here in Afghanistan we were immediately split up.  Some of us went down South near Kandahar, some went to Salerno in the Northeast.  The rest of us and headquarters went to Sharana, also in the Northeastern part of the county.  Since then we have split up again.  Now it's just my platoon at FOB Orgun-E elevation 7,460ft-ish.  I guess we get bragging rights for spending the most time in country above 7,000 feet.  I often wonder about all the other guys (and gals) at the other FOBS,… I hope they are all doing well, and I look forward to hearing all the other stories from them.  Being here has forced me to realize and appreciate a lot of the simpler things in life.  We really don't need much to survive and while I'm excited to go home, it's hard not to think how much better life back home would be if I can observe and practice a little more simplicity in my life.