My Rider Flag still hangs high!

Hello everyone!

I meant to send my next post earlier but after Saskatchewan made the Grey Cup I figured I would wait a week. Then after Saskatchewan lost the Grey Cup I could hardly find the words to describe it, delaying my blog post a couple more days. I am sure all of you are just as devastated as I am still so I will not venture into that territory. For the  most part I cannot speak of it yet, nor will I be able to for some time. The most unfortunate part of the game is that it was exciting and the controversial finish means that Saskatchewan fans will have to endure TSN top ten highlight reels for the next twenty years! Therefore, for the time being, we will let sleeping dogs lie! 

The night itself was very exciting though. We had six or seven rider fans and only one Alouette fan. We gave him such a hard time while Sk was beating up on Montreal, but as you all know he got the last laugh in the end. The game started at 4 am over here but the pre-game began at 10:30 pm and I could not sleep so I watched it all! Like I said, I was devastated but just kept my mouth shut as it had been flapping a little too much for the four hours previous. Judging by the looks on some of the troop's faces I would say they needed counseling but everyone seems to be pulling through just fine. 

In other news we were able to celebrate a, surprisingly quiet, American thanksgiving! I arrived in theater in time to celebrate the Canadian holiday but was not served turkey for the occasion. In fact, I think we ate mini pizzas that night. But the kitchen made up for the indiscretion by cooking turkey and all the fixings on the American version of the holiday. We also got to watch a few of the NFL games on the following Friday morning; which was a Thursday night back home. The only thing that I did not get, to my disappointment, was a piece of pumpkin pie. Although it is not my favorite, though you can be sure that I will never turn it down, it is a holiday staple at the Fossum household. In fact one pie is never enough with the Fossum boys and several can be found at most festive dinners! 

Besides those two pieces of info, life has been busier than usual around here. We find ourselves working hard on the odd occasion which is refreshing. Over here entertainment is only limited by the finite span of ones own imagination; thank god for a rural upbringing which cultivated one heck of an imagination. Even still, no matter the size of the imagination, the monotony of routine slowly weighs upon a soldier over time. While troops of old endured a war of attrition by being placed in a constant state of duress; in a modern war of insurgency the soldier is threatened with the attrition of idleness. I am not saying this lightly nor am I professing that we are lazy. I am simply saying that the ebb and flow of an insurgency means there will be slow days and busy days, but keeping your wits sharp despite what your doing is half the battle we face here.  For the most part, our training exercises were fast paced and tested the abilities of the troops and the leadership on a regular basis; therefore it was reasonable for me to believe that the sandbox would be the same. I never would have imagined that some of worst days you find yourself fighting your own mind during the hours of nothing we can experience. 

Finally I will make a comment on the weather. Funny how when your are raised on a farm in Southwest Sask., the weather is always a central conversation piece. Now I mentioned in an earlier post about how arid the land is out here with soil that has the consistency and texture of light brown flour. Rain is obviously one luxury, among many, that this part of the world does not know very well. My hometown can share this luxury either with three out of the past five years being exceedingly dry. This gives me first hand experience with drought and anyone whose livelihood depends upon Mother Natures whims will likely agree with me when I say that when the earth is parched and the sun bears down day after day, there is an air of hopelessness that encompasses a person. Though this speaks volumes of the resiliency of man, in the case of farmers it could be called lunacy, to endure such conditions year after year, the exhilaration of a long awaited rain is almost unequalled. If I have not sufficiently alluded to it already then I will be plain: we have received rain. 

Over here, as at home on the farm, rain carries a mystical power. If there are any farmers reading this they will surely agree with me that beyond the renewed promise of a crop and livelihood, rain calms the soul in ways we cannot understand. When it rained over here it seemed to give the area in a whole different shade, even beyond the literal sense. The dust that usually hovers in the air and obstructs visibility is tamed by the rain and the sky has an polished clarity to it. The smell of rain is refreshing as the tired smell of heat and war is washed away. Even the gravel that covers our compound, which normally looks a bleak grey due to conditions, is scrubbed and reveals a mosaic of colours previously unseen. The soil, or moon dust as I have previously suggested, takes on a texture and appearance of real dirt and gives the hope that, even here, local farmers can make a livelihood from it. The sight, smell, and feel of rain mellowed me more than I had been since I arrived here. Maybe this place just needs more rain....

That is all for now and I hope that I will be able to write my blog in a more timely fashion. 

Take care back in Canada! 

Bdr Fossum