Color of My Landscape

I think all of the camouflage is starting to get to me.  I
 had a dream the other night I found a bright, canary yellow
 blouse in my closet here and had an overwhelming desire to
 wear it.  Definitely not a possibility in the midst of the
 sea of tan and beige camouflage on COB Speicher!

And when I wake up, sometimes it is strange to realize I am
 in Iraq, a place constantly portrayed in the news with
 photos of war torn streets after a bomb has exploded or veiled
 women and children walking along a path guarded by
 soldiers.  It is hard to believe I am in that place, in Iraq,
 because all I see of it is within the boundaries of COB
 Speicher. Most of my impressions still consist of what I see and
 read in the news appended by a few conversations with
 soldiers who go outside the wire to train Iraqi soldiers and
 police, patrol the highways, or help with provincial
 reconstruction in one manner or another. 

The war or conflict remains almost as fragmented in my mind
 as it was when I was at home, a series of events,
 successes, and setbacks.  Even a letter sent out to the troops and
 civilians here from Commanding General Petraeus reflects
 this reality.  Although there have some large suicide
 bombings in the last few weeks, the General’s letter does point to
 a recent trend of fewer attacks and reduced military and
 civilian casualties, which I can verify on Icasualities.org.
 
In addition to trying to gain a broader since of geography
 here, the messages I pass increase my awareness of places
 at home.  The towns represented by the families and Red
 Cross chapters at home sending emergency messages are sprinkled
 across the US in places I had no idea existed. 

Neither Julie nor I had heard of Celebration, Florida when
 she passed a message originating there.  Turns out,
 Celebration is at the end of a road that originates in the Magic
 Kingdom at Disney World.  Another town I had never heard of,
 Euless, Texas, population 51,000, exists between Dallas
 and Fort Worth. A message about a serviceman’s wife going
 into preterm labor came from there. Another message came from
 the small town of Tylertown, Mississippi, pop. 1,900.  News
 of the death of a serviceman’s father came from central
 Mexico, the town of Zacatecas, which was a silver boomtown
 established in 1548. 

While plenty of messages come in from places I know well
 like Detroit and San Diego, my curiosity is piqued when
 messages come from towns I’ve never heard of like Newtown, CT. I
 wonder about the families and Red Cross volunteers and
 staff who take the originating calls and verify the deaths,
 illnesses, and births with the doctors, funeral directors,
 and law enforcement officers in these places scattered across
 the country.

And while my world is getting bigger due to the messages I
 pass and my experience in Iraq, I wonder, in the middle of
 this camouflage laden landscape, if maybe, just maybe,
 General Petaerus has a rainbow colored beach shirt somewhere
 that he is dying to wear when he goes home, too.