Living a Metaphor of Life

Today I was completing another mission travelling through Iraq when I realized a most curious idea. I had been bothered by something for days, a feeling of disjointedness. I had seen several new and interesting things on the trip out to our location whose existential beauty seemed greater than I really could absorb at that time. Could I have become calloused to what brings my experiences their deeper meanings? Could I have been so personally damaged by the recent events of my life that now the simplest of wonders is met with apathy? Has life simply turned absolutely ugly for me that the few pearls that come along are worthless because of the slop? I refused to let that last bit of me be ruined. I recorded the events in my mind as they happened, feeling only some of their beauty. I replayed them in my mind during the doldrums of the mission until they took on a surreal quality.

Today is the first day of Ramadan.

We began or convoy back to home in the morning as Ramadan began. We had been given the obligatory propaganda briefings about Ramadan the week prior. Repeating to us that Ramadan is a period of peace for the muslim; through fasting and prayer they become closer to Allah. We should respect them because Ramadan is a period of peace for the muslim. Repeated ad nauseum. That is why the Apaches were on patrol as we left the gate.

I began to replay the events I witnessed on the trip up. Comparing what I saw today, there was a noticeable difference between missions but no real difference between what I saw at the beginning and the end of our current mission. Many more people were out in their fields and in towns, many teens and younger children, too. Too many donkeys littered the streets that our convoy had to swerve around one that was obscured by a cloud of dust, as he lazily strolled down the center of a major route. I chalked all the activity up to two factors; beginning of Ramadan and the change in weather. Recently, the weather has gotten cooler. The highs are only 100 fahrenheit, lows around 75. It even rained nearby for the first time since April.

There was a fresh IED crater in our lane.

To be continued.....