A Hard Rain

Hi Friend,

What a weekend. I only flew halfway around the country but I may as well have boarded a rocket ship to Mars. My first experience on an Army base was Fort Knox, Kentucky in the middle of July.

Have you ever felt enveloped by silence? It was mid-evening when we arrived, past the time most people eat dinner so I attributed the empty streets and quiet hotel to the time of night. A pop of life was found at the only open restaurant that had some night life for the locals beyond its glass doors. It was straight out of a movie scene… though I suppose life inspires art, right? Tattooed pool players and karaoke singers so good they almost seemed planted. Not sure if they were all soldiers or if some were spouses but each looked like they would have no trouble clearing a climbing wall.

With the morning light, I soon realized the military is a noiseless bunch. They move quietly down hallways and orderly at breakfast. I was banking on the adage that being 15 minutes early is on time until I walked into to a standing room only presentation when I thought I’d be one of the first to arrive. I’m new to the military life and quickly learned most there were multi-generational and well-versed.

The grounds were neat and well maintained. Green fields with tanks and helicopters, brick buildings, not a flower in sight. As a matter of fact, no other color to speak of in the landscape. Maybe it helps people to notice and appreciate the changing sky, a dependable trait that hangs in the air. It only made it more obvious to me that this isn’t where I belong. There is no point to planting bulbs when you aren’t around long enough to see the blooms. Everyone here is temporary and I come from permanence. There was a vast loneliness that overcame me within that barbed wired community. For the first time I understood the word “homesick” and I will carry a piece of that heartache with me for as long as my son is actively serving.