Anticipation

We are waiting for transport to the flight line. The bags are packed and loaded. The barracks are cleaned and empty. The farewell ceremony is over. All of the weapons have been issued.

There is laughter, some of it nervous, as Soldiers joke with one another.

There are lot of cell phones out with text messages and call being sent.

Some are reading. Some have found a whiffle ball and bat and have started pick up game. Others are sitting under a tree picking at the grass generating rumor mill content.

This is the longest part of the entire deployment; getting there, or waiting to get there. The anxiety is real. No matter how many past deployments someone has been on, those nervous butterflies manifest themselves in many ways.

Writing, for me, is the way to relieve some of that waiting anxiety.

I hope all is well with you, wherever you are.