Thanksgiving away

I spent a career in the Air Force, and somehow managed to never be away for a birthday, anniversary, or major holiday, except for Darby’s birthday when she was, I think, 3, and I was gone for several months. This is my first Thanksgiving away from my home and family.

It’s a hard place to be for me – my family has always been very important. I was never one of those pilots who couldn’t wait to get on the road to get away. I love my family and cherish the time with them! But this year we are spread out. Shannon and David are in California visiting his family. Darby is in Fayetteville with Dana, and I’m here.  I am fortunate, though, to have met some wonderful people here who open their doors to people like me, so I’ve enjoyed two Thanksgiving dinners, one last night and one tonight. If I must be here it is nice to spend some time with my new friends. 

So Happy Thanksgiving to all - I hope you were able to spend it with those you love, and that you were able to be thankful for something. I am thankful for the opportunity to be here, to do challenging work with a good team, to learn a whole new world of information, and to earn a nice paycheck doing it! I am thankful for my beautiful wife and lovely daughters for supporting me and each other while I'm away. I am thankful for my parents and brothers and friends and all the people who help make up my life, and for good health - I am thankful for every breath I take!

After dinner I was returning on my scooter to the hotel – 65 degrees, 88% humidity, everything dripping wet, almost foggy but just not quite. I went by the soccer field and there was a low fog deck right over the turf, and three fellows out practicing. This just looked too cool so I stopped and grabbed a few shots just to see what I could get – here are a few!

In August Dana and I went to Europe, and things have been so busy I’ve done an awful job of sharing some of the amazing images we captured. Here are a few from Edinburgh, Scotland. More in the coming weeks! Cheers, Mark

Home and back again

Last night it rained. First time in 7 months since, the first week I was here, and I happened to be out in it. It had been cloudy all day, another first since I arrived. It wasn’t a giant rain, but I was out for a short walk around 8:30 p.m. when I felt the unexpected taps on my head and shoulders as the first drops fell. At the time it was about 75˚ F, and by the time I got back to my building I was fairly wet. It was a delightful walk!

Today it rained off and on most of the day, and is still doing so now. The forecast shows serious chances for rain over the next several days, and amazingly cool temperatures.  I really didn’t expect highs in the mid-70s in mid-November in Saudi Arabia, but I’ll take it!

Of course, none of that explains why I haven’t posted anything here for close to two months – sorry about that. Let’s say I've been busy! I’ve had a project at work that has consumed much of my energy for about 2 months, and at one point I worked 16 days straight, with only one week off the week before that stretch and one day after. Then I worked 8 days straight, left work, took a taxi to Bahrain, and got on a plane to go home for a week!

Had a nice set of flights (more on that in a few days) and got home Friday night to see Dana and Darby and it was wonderful to be home. Sadly, it was only for a week and then jetted my way back to the desert. It was a busy week, full of appointments, a few meetings, some good meals at favorite restaurants, and I even got to shoot a wedding!

It was an exhausting week but I’m so glad to have done it – got to spend some lovely time with my wonderful girls, and got a whole bunch of stuff done that now I don’t have to do at Christmas when I come for two weeks, and I’ll be able to relax and enjoy the time, and Shannon and David will be in from Montreal and I can’t wait to see them!

So I left to come back on Friday afternoon, and got back to my room at midnight Saturday night, just in time to get some rest and start back to work on Sunday. It was a whirlwind week, the kind that leaves you a little breathless but happy nonetheless! I've also taken a few pictures, so there's lots to catch up on here on the blog, and I promise to do so over the next few weeks in case anybody is still looking!