Christmas Decorations

Friday 12/1/06
2000

My mother sent me a little Christmas tree and some decorations, so I put it up this week. I also bought some lights at the PX and put up some photos. So my room looks more cozy and homelike than it has up until now. Here are some photos:


Christmas Lights
Originally uploaded by hkp7fan.

My Desk #2
Originally uploaded by hkp7fan.

I sat and listened to Christmas music while I put them up, and also while I addressed my Christmas cards. (Now if I can just get them over to the post office, they might arrive on time!).

I was glad to have my Christmas music. I almost forgot it, because all the Christmas CDs were stored with my Christmas decorations instead of with my other music. But I decided to bring along one favorite Christmas decoration, and when I went to get it I saw the Christmas CDs and ripped them into iTunes. Here’s my favorite decoration:

*Favorite Decoration

It’s also kind of funny, because along with the decoration, I came very close to bringing along a Waechtersbach Christmas mug, but decided against it, mainly because of space and also because I didn’t want it broken. Then last week I opened a package from my mother and there was not only a Waechtersbach mug but also a bowl and some Pine Forest potpourri. Now my room smells like the painting on my Christmas card:


Christmas Card 2006
Originally uploaded by hkp7fan.

Generally it has felt good to listen to the music and put up the decorations, but I surprised myself when I was going back and looking at photos from last Christmas. Seeing the kids decorating, baking cookies, opening presents, and eating Christmas dinner really drove home the idea that I’m going to miss all that this year, for the first time in their lives. It just sort of gave me an empty feeling in my stomach, and I was nearly overcome by a wave of sadness such as I haven’t felt up until now. It passed, but I can really see how the holidays can be a melancholy time for some people who either don’t have family at all or who are separated from them. I know I’m likely to feel sad again because I’m not with them, but I don’t think I’ll feel it quite that acutely again. It just sort of took me by surprise that time.

I’ve been looking for Christmas M&M’s to send the kids, but they don’t have any in the PX. I guess the postage charges would make it kind of silly to send them all the way back the USA after they’d been sent here, but they’re kind of a tradition with us.

Claire and I deliberated a bit about whether I should post photos of our Christmas cookies from last year. We decided it was probably not a good idea since they sort of made light of the GWOT and people might get the wrong idea about our attitude towards it. But it was fun to recall making them with her.

Well, it’s about time for me to go get my laundry before someone piles it on top of the dryer and it gets all wrinkled. More another day!

Mood: Festive
Music: Bing Crosby – Merry Christmas

Photos Removed (Part II)

Thursday 11/30/06
2100

I had added a few comments yesterday to expand on my initial entry, but they took down the power and I lost it all. So here they are now, more or less:

On the one hand I support the program and do not mind taking down photos of the installation. They may seem innocuous in themselves, but taken in the aggregate they could provide insights into how we operate that could be useful to our enemies, which would obviously be bad.

On the other hand, it is too bad that I can’t be more open and show my surroundings more completely. We are a very open society, and are here to defend that way of life, yet because our enemies would exploit (and have exploited) that openness to harm us, we have to be less open and more restrictive. To a certain extent this just goes along with being in the military and being in a war zone. What really makes me angry are the restrictions on such freedoms that have had to be imposed at home. Many government departments have done so with their websites and other published information. Openness keeps our government honest and accountable to the people, and secrecy is inimical to that.

All the more reason to kill as many of our enemies as we can, as quickly as possible, while working to ensure they have a hard time recruiting more. (But that’s a larger subject.)

I had to laugh when I was thinking about this and an image crossed my mind from the movie “Good Morning, Vietnam!”. Adrian Kronauer (Robin Williams) was trying to joke around with the censors at the AFN radio station. Their stone-faced reaction to his jokes was probably a pretty accurate reflection of the official attitude. It’s also kind of timely that I just watched “Men in Black” the other night. In that movie, someone asks Tommy Lee Jones “Is this a joke?”, to which he replies “No, Ma’am, we at the FBI do not have a sense of humor that we know of.”

Oh, well – I’m still keeping my sense of humor about all of this, as far as possible.


Mood: Good
Music: Great American Marches I

Photos Removed

Well, the censors have spoken. No photos of installations here are permitted except those officially approved by the authorities. Approval will be given for official purposes only. So I will not be able to post any photos of the U.S. installations here, and those I already posted have been removed.

They just this second told me they are taking the power down in five minutes so I have to log off. :-(

FWIW, I'm OK with this policy and I'm glad I can keep posting the blog. :-)