The Demob Countdown continues...... "Getting Short"

I am getting " short " as the number of days until I demob is now at 3 !!!

It was a rough night for the people of Kandahar as they had to deal with another carbombing which caused up to 16 deaths and another 60+ wounded.....Sad, sad, sad.

While there are many things I will not miss about this place, (Flies, Dust, Heat, Conflict, etc.), there has been moments where the beauty of the desert presents itself.

Sunrise is one of my favorite moments in the day as all is still and nature shows us her palette of colors and textures can create.  Enclosed is a picture I took of one of those moments.

Hope all are well stateside and looking forward to joining you soon.

Thursday......It's the new Friday

Over here, we look forward to Thursday as it is the end of our work week.  The locals get Friday and Saturday off so Thursday is the new Friday over here.

We have a good meal as the camp we're at provides a nice BBQ and then we have Friday off.  It is nice to have one day a week here where you can just hang out and chill.

I have to spend part of my day Friday packing some items to ship home prior to demobbing from here later this month.  I will be able to spend the summer at home for the first time since 2009.... It has been quite a while and I plan on taking full advantage of the season and all that it holds.

Mrs. MJ has some things for me to do and that is to be expected .....she has been running the homefront for a year on her own and that is no small feat.

So here is today's picture ( which was taken yesterday actually) - A brilliant sunrise over Kandahar on the first day of May, which should be the last month I spend in Afghanistan.....

Inshalla.

Sunrise in Kandahar

Sunrise this morning in #Kandahar, #Afghanistan - Start of our Saturday as #USA finishes its Friday - #OEF @usnavy twitter.com/Leadership_One…

— Middleboro Jones (@Leadership_One) April 6, 2013

Sunrise this morning in Kandahar

Got up early (as usual) and was delightfully suprised by a beautiful sunrise

Off to start my day and looking forward to Friday which is our day off here.

Hope all will be safe here today and at home.

Sunrise - Kandahar, Afghanistan 03/11/2013

Our day started with a nice sunrise today but we got word that 2 US troops died in a "Green on Blue" attack in Wardak Province.....This conflict is difficult and will be so until we can rely on the Afghans for their own defense.  Regardless of what the pointy headed POLS in WASH DC think, it is not going to happen by end of 2014.  To see all the effort made here go for naught will be tragic along with all the killing that will occur once we leave.... There is no easy answers.

I wanted to share this sunrise and hope all is well stateside.

Sunrise - Kandahar, Afghanistan

Sunrise this morning in Kandhar, Afghanistan...we got rain overnight which is odd here as we get rarely get rain.  Winter here is the only rainy season.

I send this picture with thoughts and prayers for all back home in harm's way.  The residents of the East Coast, especially NYC, NJ, Philly, The Virginias and Delware are in our thoughts and prayers.

The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy has overwhelmed all and it will be sometime before life resembles normal back home.

Sunrise in Afghanistan this morning

Beautiful Sunrise in Kandahar this morning