The HUMAN condition

As most of you probably already know, I am stationed on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.  And wouldn't you know I am deployed and hurricane season is in full swing.  In fact I think that we just had a near miss.  We may not be where the center of Katrina hit but I would bet that most of the people that were here then would find that to be an irrelevant statement; especially those that lost everything in the storm.  So as my current role as a military adviser, I have the opportunity to speak with many people that survived that event.

Blaaaaa day

Today was boring and uninspiring.  I did manage to make a nifty little pipe nail (a tool for cleaning my pipe) by smashing a nail between a hammer and a rock, then filing the end with the file on my Leatherman, and another rock.  It felt good to smell that metal filing smell.  I can't wait to get back in the shop and start making knives again.  I would give you a picture but it would take an hour to upload and it is just not that impressive.

I did learn something today, the INSANITY workout makes you want to stab yourself in the face with an ink pen.  I recommend it highly! :)  Hopefully Ill have more for you tomorrow, keep learning! NM

Star gazing

I was sitting in the gravel by the laundry trailer listening to "Tiger Army" and over the glow of the camp the stars caught my eye.  It took about a half of a heartbeat to spot Ursa Major and then Polaris.  And for just that moment I was back on my mountain watching the stars and eating overcooked wild rabbit.  It was a good reminder of home.  Then it occurred to me that I have sought comfort in those stars in more shit holes on this planet than any one man should have to visit.  If you do not know the stars, you should get to know them, it is amazing how comforting they are in shitty times.   NM

BTW The TA song was sea of fire!

A lesson of lessons

I learned a lesson today!  While that in and of itself is nothing new, in learning that lesson it taught me a more important one.  If you have been reading this blog very long you probably already know that I am a big advocate of paying attention to what the hell is going on.  Not just that but looking back and trying to put the pieces together so you don't repeat the same mistakes tomorrow that you made today.  If you didn't make any mistakes today then you need to get off the couch and make a few or you are going to fall behind.