I can barely wait for fall to get here. This summer has been the coolest (temperature-wise) that I’ve ever seen over here, even the locals are saying that they can’t remember the last time they had a summer like this and it’s just made me want the seasons to change that much sooner.

It started off with 3 weeks of dust storms that blotted out the sun from the sky which naturally dropped the temperature about 20 degrees while also covering everything with a thick layer of talcum-like dust. Then we caught the tail end of that awful storm system that’s been smashing neighboring Pakistan and China.
Normally a summer here is like spending a couple of months in an oven full of dust, and the sky is always perfectly clear, endless blue without a cloud in sight. Pretty, but you get sick of it after awhile. So in spite of the misery that this weather is causing elsewhere, I have been loving every minute of it.

I’m a total bad weather kinda guy, or if I can't get bad weather I'll just settle for something other than perfect. I get goosebumps when I see dark menacing clouds or hear the rumbling thunder and I get all kinds of excited when I hear the rain on the roof. I’m gonna be pissed if when this is all over, there aren’t any thunderstorms in Heaven.

Just a couple of weeks ago I was out east towards Pakistan at a FOB called Wolverine. It’s situated at the base of some small mountains that in spite of their size always seem to have some kind of weather happening. On this particular day I could actually see some rain clouds at elevation and there was a pretty strong 20 MPH wind gusting down from the mountains, and on the wind was the wonderful sweet scent of rain. That’s almost unheard of during the summer here so I perked up like a bloodhound. The pilots had idled the engines down as we were waiting on some stuff so I climbed up on the hesco wall that serves as the perimeter fence and spent about 5 awesome minutes loving the feeling of the cool, moist air blowing by. I guess that’s the Afghan equivalent of stopping to smell the roses.

Its moments like that that remind me a little bit of what home is like, both Germany and Colorado.

Speaking of home, I am definitely ready for this R&R. I wish I could stay for October as well but September isn’t a bad month at all. Just enough of the warm weather to enjoy myself at the lake and just enough chilly weather to appreciate a good campfire up in the mountains. So far on my agenda I’ve got a genealogy trip with my mom to Minnesota, a visit to one of my sisters and her new house in Provo, and building a new bathroom in my house. Other than that its camping, shooting, eating, sleeping, cooking, random road trips, flying...and getting my wisdom teeth pulled. Bah!