How did we get here so fast? Wasn't it just a few weeks ago we were sweltering during a stretch of hundred-degree weather that topped out at 106? And now here we are, at 57 degrees as I type this, headed toward a modest high of 79 today. Ah, Oregon...It's been a busy summer: a college graduation, a trip to Georgia, a family reunion, a couple of visits to the family cabin, Jordan moving out, Nathan moving in, possible changes at work for Lori and me. And now September has arrived.
On Friday, Jordan will arrive for a four-day visit over the Labor Day weekend, his first time away from Fort Bliss in El Paso since arriving there after completing basic training in early July. We haven't heard from him in a while, which makes me think he and his fellow soldiers are busy ramping up their training. He had complained mildly about too few guys being assigned to Bliss. The manpower shortage, coupled with a delay in getting enough training equipment, meant they didn't have much to do other than daily physical training and complete endless rounds of paperwork.
If and when they reached critical mass, they'd be able to begin training in earnest in the advanced infantry skills they'll need when their company is deployed, eventually, to either Iraq or Afghanistan. From my point of view, the longer the delay the better, given the continuing instability in both countries and allegations of vote fraud in the Afghanistan presidential election.
So now we'll get a status report on El Paso, Fort Bliss and life in general from Pvt. Rede. And along with it, an update on his girlfriend Jamie, who's working as a veterinary technician in her hometown of Butte Falls, 40 miles northeast of Medford.
She's pictured with him here on the east bank of the Chattahoochee River in Columbus, Ga.
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