Rainbow Platoon

It's a little over my two month anniversary in theatre. Times flies and so do the helicopters, outside my window all night long.
I'm thankful for lots on this American Thanksgiving day. Namely my dad for always answering my Skype calls just when I need to hear them.

With this new group of people arriving in camp, trying to reinvent the wheel and change the ways things have been done in the past. It's driving me insane. If not for my dads pep talk from an recent article in the New York Times, I don't think I would have made it out of this day alive.

The positive power of negative thinking. Something to think about. Stay in the present and embrace the chaos. Life is how we chose to see it and I see it as a challenge, an opportunity and a blessing.

I see it as the castle in the sand, that's been built into something so beautiful to be enjoyed until it's swept back into the sea. Let's see it for what it is. The good and the bad, the sad and the happy, the spicy and the sweet. We're not going to like it all, and it's not going to be easy. But we can find fun in the strife. Cry at the jokes and laugh at the insults.

All I can say at this point in my life is that I chose to be here. All we can do is try to work together and make life somewhat enjoyable for the little time we're here. Even if that means, not taking things to seriously when everyone wants you to die over the seriousness. We can walk towards freedom together. Minds open and hearts free, to teach the little people what they can really be.

They want you to beg and plead and bargain and sweat, for something that is beyond your control. I'm not here to climb the ladder, to get a promotion, to prove myself to anyone. I want to learn and grow within myself and my surroundings. To share knowledge and wisdom with kindess and confidence. Walk tall and stand strong and always remember that Castles made of Sand, will fall into the sea, Eventually..

Purple Haze

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It all began at 4am on Friday morning. I drove my rental car to the airport and parked it. Headed with my 2 checked bags and one carry on for the fourth time into the unknown. I was to travel from Comox to Toronto with Air Canada.

Upon arrival in Toronto I grabbed the airport shuttle to Union Station in downtown to catch my VIA train to Belleville. From there it was a 20 minute cab ride to my hotel for the night. After a long 15 hours of travel from 4am to 21h00, I took to sleep very easy.

It was a 7am wake up call for breakfast at the Yukon Galley and then another quick cab ride to the Trenton Pax Terminal where we awaited our Service flight to Afghanistan. Not direct, but many, many, many stops along the way.

The C17 was loaded with cargo and held room for only 20 of us whom were the lucky ones who got to travel as cargo. There were 3 PSP and about 17 soldiers, which also included some VIP’s, and no Madonna wasn't one of them.

It was cold and loud on the way to Germany, wished I'd had invested in those $400 sound canceling BOSE headphones. We landed and were herded into the airport for approx 2 hours until we were called back to the plane. All this was happening at 3am with no German Beer in sight, but the hunt had been on believe you me, fast and furiously. Coffee was our only substitute.

From Germany we pushed on towards Kuwait. Another 7 hour flight ahead of us. It was freezing cold and only a little blanket could be drummed up to help with the chill overnight. We landed in Kuwait at 2pm local time on a Sunday. Only to find out we had no access to our checked bags, therefore I was stuck wearing my dirty uniform and sleeping in my underwear. I did take a shower and sacrifice one of the sheets they issued us as a towel.  It was a great sleep. Crazy dreams of Purple Sand and friends left behind in the Valley.

It was a rude awakening at 4am to load the 3^rd and last flight of this arduous journey. Wasn’t sure if I was going up or coming down but zombie walked out to the flight line.

Considering what we had all just endured over the last couple of days this flight should be a cakewalk. A few games of Tetris, half of a movie and a couple chapters of my book and five hours late, the eagle had landed. Kabul… we have arrived.

Excited to get settled we grabbed our bags off the palate, only to find out that the roads from the airport to Camp Phoenix were flagged black, which meant no passage at that time. We were rerouted in a 6 car Convoy and a people pod to Camp Souter. Doning our Personal Protective Equipment we traveled the 10 minutes through the checkpoints into Souter.There we were allotted a room until further notice of the local Afghani protests and a clear route to our new home.

To be continued….

Blue moon

This is my 2nd attempt to start a blog.
On the Blue Moon of Aug 2012, Mount Septimus became a vision. A vision of majestic strength and personal achievement. The first mountain to summit of hopefully many to come.

It was a grueling mission on the body and the mind, and only prevailed to create hope and love within my spirit. Challenging and daunting, I'm not gonna lie. I was scared.

I accompanied a solid, professional Mountaineering guru who walked me through this experience. As my mentor he aided me in positive thinking and maintaining my strength. Not to mention all the technical climbing involved, my life was in his hands to an extent.

It was a 5 hour hike into our camping site. We slept soundly that night with dreams of the summit in our near future. We awoke to a clear blue sky and sunshine warming our hearts.

Starting the climb on the icy snow we did some exercises beforehand in self arrest positions and safety precautions. We began to climb. The rocky loose rocks were threatening to unsteady our steps.
Once reaching the north glacier we traversed across, staring deep into the crevasses below and above our trail. Once we crossed and hit the Basalt rock, it was only a matter of time before we scurried up the rock to reach the top.

The view was intense. My heart was singing by then and my legs burning. I felt elation.

We ate, and reflected on the journey and to our sadness it was time to down climb. The adventure starts again. This time gravity working for us not against us.

Upon reaching camp we warmed up, ate and basked in the glory of the full Blue Moon poking out from the peak of our summit. This experience touched me so deeply I felt honored to have been a part of this glorious world if only for a few days. It has inspired me intensely and these memories will walk with me for the rest of my life.