It's been a short while since I last updated. Five days. Five days doesn't seem like much in basic, but a lot can happen in that miniscule amount of time. Let's see, an overnight stay in the field, Anzio, grenade qualification, the final APFT, and a number of smaller events. It's Saturday night and tomorrow I don't have to wake up till 0630. Time to update.

First thing first, the overnight stay in the field. It was awesome. Completely awesome.It was raining the whole first day at the a light drizzle while we did buddy team movement drills. We set up our tents and were actually given permission to...wait, guess what...NAP! The sun was up, dinner chow hadn't even been thought of yet, and I was napping! The field can be fun, and it's always beautiful.

On that first day we got to see a gorgeous rainbow. I hadn't seen one in a few years. You'd think that you'd catch a glimpse of them often living in Mobile, AL where it rains at least half the year. Or so it seems to the local. That night, the stars were out and shining as bright as ever. Orion's Belt was glimmering, as were all other constellations. Wondrous.

That same night, we had the event trail. A tactical movement by squads through a number of obstacles. I was near security while we crawled through tunnels, hopped over walls, crawled under logs and constantine wire. Burning utility trucks alighting the forest line and our camo'ed faces in an eerie orange glow that sent chills running down my spine.

Afterwards, all of Delta company went through "Nick at Night." We were given the option to low or high crawl-low crawl was highly encouraged-for some 300 meters or so under the three constantine wire obstacles followed by abrupt one-foot drops. Meanwhile, a mounted 60 cal. is firing live rounds overhead. tracer rounds with phosphorus tips that leave orange streaks along the course of their path. Like time-delayed pictures of headlights streaking light-ribboned cities. A breathtaking image to see before your eyes.

We camped on a large hill/mini mountain. We could look out through the open area and see a long sprawl of unhindered landscape in it's natural form. The fallen pine needles turned the other hills to a brownish red tint that seemed to amplify the unmistakable emotion of the season. I'd love to be standing there in the midst of true Autumn when all the colors begin to shift. Can you imagine how damn beautiful it would be?

Out of everything that happened in the field during that stay, only one displeasing thing occurred. For some reason I decided to bring my journal along with me for the experience. Now, it has the cover off, the first page barely hanging to the spiral binding, and the words running together as if apart of Eva's Instrumentality. Also, there's plenty of brown stains around the corners from sand, mud, and clay. I'm a little appreciative, though. It gives my journal a whole new feel. A genuine touch, you could say. I went through the CS chamber with it, many a smoking session, and lots of good chow. Always stored safely in my right cargo pocket. And through all that, it was devoid of personality. Character. Now, though...I'm liking it. I'm liking it a lot.

Well, that's long enough for one entry, so I'm going to split it all up into relatively evened out posts. US Weapons is next, then Anzio-another stunningly awesome night-and then grenade qualification which should all be fun to elaborate upon. Goodnight.

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