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July 1, 2007 Today is the first day of July. The fourth day of this month will be the beginning of my fifty-fifth year. I suppose that will mean I am officially a senior citizen entitled to some type of discount somewhere; perhaps Denny’s or Ponderosa. On the 18th of this month I will get to test some of those discounts. I will be headed home for my annual bit of leave from deserts, soldiers and seventy-two hour work weeks. I miss my shade trees. I would certainly like to hug each one upon my return. I have my ticket and I am keeping an eye on the news. I had been avoiding all news lately, but when European airports that I might choose to travel through come under terrorist attack I suppose it is better to pay attention to such matters. I’ve only recently completed a journey through Qatar and Afghanistan . Being away from television and newspapers was cleansing in a way. There were no illegal immigrants, communists, traitorous democrats, traitorous republicans, elections, debates, or even the minute quarrel. Wherever I was I was surrounded by peace, quiet, and sense of perfect well-being. I am sure that was all “lack-of-media” illusion. I did manage a couple of columns in June, but on the whole I had nothing much concerning me to write about. I did write several poems which I shared with the classes that had inspired the words. There is something about the mountains of Bagram, Afghanistan that set me to lines of verse. I might share these another time here. More likely I’ll post them to www.allpoetry.com where they will probably be better appreciated. I am looking forward to my vacation because I sincerely believe I have earned one. I had believed slavery outlawed. That belief has been greatly tested this year. “Busy” is not the term that begins to describe my past 5 months. “Stressed” barely scrapes at describing the actual physical tortures endured through desert travel and weekly podium instruction. The point is I am very tired. I need the break because the routine has become completely normal in its physical butchery. Bruises, scraped knuckles, bashed toes and elbows from climbing into buses and planes, loading and unloading my equipment onto pallets and platforms, never to become sick enough or bashed up enough to just be able to stop. My last day in Bagram I was done in by, of all things, a cherry Danish! The baker had left the pit in the cherry and that pit found a molar in my mouth to destroy. Naturally, since I was not bleeding, or in pain, or wearing the uniform of a soldier, I was not priority for dental assistance and since I was leaving the next day, setting an appointment was impractical. Upon returning to Kuwait I was informed that I would have to seek dental aid outside base fences. I was referred to a Kuwaiti dental clinic. The dentist was not inside my jaw for 5 minutes before the “Uh-Oh, sir, we have another problem”: That problem being another quarter section of the molar chipping off with a resultant and sudden necessity for a root-canal. The temporary filling looks like I’m chewing a wad of white bubble-gum. So after charging me the American equivalent of 75 dollars for further damaging a tooth I cherish and recommending me to his brother, or his cousin, who specializes in root-canal, I have decided to work through the minor ache and the bubble-gum temporary and wait until I get home to America and my family dentist. I keep telling myself that one of these days everything will work out exactly as planned and I won’t know what to do. I still await that day. ------------ About the Author: Michael John McCrae has contributed over 700 articles to Useless-Knowledge.com. Email: macswordV@hotmail.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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