Soothing sounds to salve the soul

Hey kids,
Thought I'd check in and answer a few of the questions of late and let everyone know that there appears to be a little light at the end of the tunnel... and thus far no whistles from the oncoming train.

Today while leaving the dfac (dining facility - don't get caught using the derogatory "chow hall") we heard a strange sound. This came after a conversation at lunch about the strange noise made by the constant slamming of the fridge doors where diners grab pop, juice or ultra-pasteurized milk.

Kutch was sure the sounds were blasts, and there had been a real blast right before lunch that had left it's telltale plume of black smoke somewhere south of the base. Ya see, these sounds - pops=small arms fire, booms or thumps=incoming or outgoing larger rounds - just become part of the landscape, or soundscape, I guess. So everyone just kind of gets used to it, but no one wants to become complacent so we always check with each other. Add to that the blocked eustachian tubes, inner ears, and sinuses that seem to be part of life here as well, and no one can really be sure of what they're hearing.

So anyway, we're walking out of the dfac and we all looked at each other as if to confirm we'd just heard some new sound. It was familiar enough, but low enough that we sort of guessed it might be a new boom. Before we had time to really discuss it, the strange (for this atmosphere) but unmistakable sound of a marching band kicking in to Outkast's "I like the way move" replaced the wierd sound we'd all heard. By then, of course, we knew the sound was a tuba, or would that be a sousaphone? leading the band into the song.

I wish I'd had my camera, cuz I can't even begin to describe the sight of these Army troops, in uniform, with their rifles at their feet in the stones, and their instruments in their hands, all focused on the conductor, just jamming, quite professionally but not so much as to prevent them from getting a little of their funk on, as they took us all completely by surprise sharing their talents at the entrance to the dfac.

It was hard to "maintain military bearing" and not move a little to the pleasant surprise and everyone within hearing and watching distance just kind of stopped as soon as they were close enough to watch the group play. It was incredibly cool and the rest of the day has been better for having watched the three minutes of music. I've even managed to have a few real laughs as opposed to the laughs at the absurdity of our situation, since my spirits were lightened by this surprise waiting for us as we walked around the sea vans that channel us out of the dfac at lunch today.

We'd had a few days of real desert heat, and for a while there, we figured that's how it was going to be for the rest of our time. John and I discovered our A/C wasn't working at that time as well. But, it's cooled down a little, we came home to a brand new A/C unit, and then this band... for three minutes, just magically lifted my spirits. I sure hope I can keep them there for a little while. I know I'm the only one who can, but it's just been too much of a load for the last week or so. I just dropped it for a while and enjoyed my misery. I tried to keep it to myself so it wouldn't spread, but you can't be left alone here. At any rate, I think I'm out of the funk for a while and by the time the next one sets in, I hope to be on the downhill slide.

Drink a beer for me and say hello to my homies.

Type at ya later.