I wasn’t sure I’d be able to come back to my morning hangout spot in the woods, before I leave for Montana. I had too many things to do before my trip which kept me fifty some odd miles from home the last three days.
It’s 2:50am here and not as cool as I expected, though the star obscuring cloud cover tells the story why. The thick cloud cover acts as a sort of blanket slowing whatever warmth there is from escaping too fast. As is usual, the only sounds coming from the woods are those of crickets. It’ll still be a while before the first sounds of birds begin to appear. For now, I’ll settle for the sounds of crickets and the occasional owl hoot.
I thought I had made peace with the idea of leaving for seven months, but here we are, less than twenty-four hours before I leave, and my mind is drifting about with reckless abandon, but who am I to complain. Military fathers and mothers deploy all the time. The emotional strife they and their loved one’s experience casts a shadow on what my heart is currently experiencing. Yes, I truly have no reason to complain.
The last few days were spent with my two youngest playing chess, monopoly, chatting, hanging out and just watching a couple of programs. Its’ kind of turned into our thing to watch “Moon Knight” and “Halo” together.
Though my gear made it on to the truck, I still had to pack clothes and other personals that would be travelling with me by air. Normally, my trips are a week or two at the most, so don’t really pay much attention to what I take, or how I carry it. This time it is quite a bit different. My normal gym like bag simply will not do. It just isn’t big enough.
I normally don’t belabor over such minutiae, but for the life of me, I don’t quite understand why I was having such a hard time selecting a suitcase from the store. there are different sizes, features, colors, brands and prices. I finally reached a breaking point, if you will, “For goodness’ sake just grab whatever. If it doesn’t work out, no big deal. It’s not the end of the world.” I’d be lying if I said such a ruse worked. I still waffled back and forth between different suitcases.
Well, I suppose the next time I write something, I’ll be doing so from Montana. For now, my clothes are packed, and loose ends tied up. I guess I’ll relax a bit and enjoy whatever time I have left.
