Life on the Vine

The video message I recorded earlier today. Loading images and videos can sometimes be a challenge with our internet connection but I think I succesfully got it to link this time. Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas. It is Thursday afternoon in Iraq on Christmas Day. It is sunny and warm. I'm wearing a short-sleeved shirt today. Everyone will be proud of me. Except for my 12 days of Christmas presents from my Aunt Alicia and her husband Jay, which had special instructions to be open with each day nearing Christmas, any wrapped presents that were in boxes I received over the last few weeks, I saved! That's right, I exercised enormous self-control. :) So this morning when I got up, I put on some Elvis Christmas music and opened my presents. Kelly, I've already done 9 of the Sudoku puzzles. One while doing this post. I just had a very nice meal at the dining facility ( DFAC ) this afternoon and got to visit with some of my co-workers. Wait till I post some of the pictures. You definitely have to give our DFAC workers credit for creativity. There was a ' ginger'bread house made of PopTarts and crackers, and a Baby Jesus carved out of a

Well, I admit it. I have been thoroughly spoiled by all of you. In the last week and a half I have received eight boxes full of Christmas presents, necessities, luxuries, and treats to share with my co-workers. Thank you so much for the outpouring of love and support. I thought you all might enjoy hearing about something that happened last Friday. In Iraq there is only one Anglican Church and it is St. George Parish, located in Baghdad in what's called the red zone. That would be outside the green zone, where I am. Those of us who are deployed here have many opportunities to attend church services during the week. Catholic and Protestant services are offered by the military chaplains assigned here. An Anglican service is offered at the U.S. Embassy Chapel. The parishoners there have adopted St. George Parish and do periodic activities with the church members, providing them with donated items and planning activitis for the kids. Well, on Friday, two buses full of St. George f

Last week I journeyed outside of the International Zone for the first time since my arrival in November. Four of five days between December 6-10 I was out on site visits. Media were along on all of the visits but the nice thing is they were all day trips so I was in my own room each night. The first and last trip were to the same location, Al-Qudas Power Plant, located north of Baghdad. Qudas is an exisiting power plant where we have an ongoing expansion project that is nearing completion. The $180 million expansion is the last and the largest power generation project for the Gulf Region Division. The expansion included the installation of two General Electric Frame 9E Combustion Turbines, both capable of producing 90+ megawatts of electricity, and all the accompanying infrastructure including a new switch yard. It's a real success story in that the project is a partnership between the Ministry of Electricity and GRD. It was Iraqi designed and Iraqi built. My first trip

Interesting times in Iraq...historic even. I've been thinking this evening that this is truly a unique time to be back in Iraq. Iraq's second round of national elections will occur next month. I heard someone say that the test of a democracy is not its first elections but its second. In addition to the upcoming elections, Iraq and the U.S. have a security agreement that sets the stage for a changing U.S. role in Iraq. Yesterday I heard someone describe it as things are beginning to contract. Most of the initial U.S. funds identified for Iraq's reconstruction have been spent, or are in the process of being spent on projects nearing completion. Troop numbers are starting to decrease in Iraq and ramp up in Afghanistan. The International Zone will soon be handed over to the Iraqis and U.S. troops will begin to pull out of Iraqi cities, stationing more on the outskirts and in remote areas. I won't see all these changes in the 6 months I'm here but I will see th

With recent posts on Thanksgiving and rain storms I didn't want you all wondering whether I was actually working. I am happily occupied with many assignments some of them involving travel but I do not want to discuss my trips on this blog until after they are complete. There are also some great human interest stories I'll be pitching to media back in the States.

2008 has been a very active year for flooding in the St. Louis area. If memory serves me correctly I believe historically this was the second wettest year on record. We had three distinct flood events, one in the spring and two during the summer. The theory in the Public Affairs Office was that I was some how inextricably linked to the floods. They seemed to start just as I was coming back to work from either leave or some other travel for work. Well, it seems that flooding has followed me to the desert. Saturday began overcast but I couldn't tell for sure if it was going to rain. But a bolt of lightening right about lunch time signaled the start of a terrible down pour. On top of that it began to hail. I learned that hail in Arabic is haloob. Here is a picture taken on top of the building I work in. The hail makes it look like snow. The hail collecting on top of the flooded streets made it look like ice flows on some sea or ocean. I will openly admit it...I did

Happy Thanksgiving from Iraq! Well, operation eat till you drop has been a success. I have enjoyed two Turkey Day meals :) The dining facilities (DFAC) always put out a lot of effort into making the holidays nice during a deployment. During my first deployment to Iraq in 2004-05 I experienced Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. I'll enjoy the same holidays this deployment. For lunch, members of our command group, including our commanding general and command sergeant major, served the meal. I thought I'd load some pictures of the decorations. We're normally not allowed to take pictures inside the dining facilities. Holidays are really the only time it is okay. The top photo shows the whole middle row of the DFAC taken up with the decorations. I loved the fact that scripture was incorporated into the decorations at the DFAC closest to my office. I have many things to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. Not the least of which is all of you

As promised...here are some pictures of me at yesterday's photo shoot at the Hands of Victory monument. There is a really talented photographer in the Division's G1. He took the group photo and these next three pictures. Behind me is one of the hands modeled after Saddam's. I don't know if you'll be able to tell in the picture below but in the center just over our heads is the second set of swords at the other end of the parade field. There is a viewing stand behind us to the right. I was told that each seat had a personal A/C unit so folks could sit comfortably while watching lengthy military parades. Apparently in April 1998 Iraq's "volunteer army" paraded for six hours between the swords, the area is known as the "Grand Festivities Square." Below is a photo of some of the Iranian helmets. A co-worker took this picture, showing me at the base of the monument. You can see the viewing stand

As promised I'm attaching the photo of me piling my plate high with my first Iraqi meal since arriving. The gentleman on my right is a co-worker in the Public Affairs Office. Both of our tummies were very happy after this delicious meal. Today I had a few firsts. I made my first visit to the crossed swords -- the Hands of Victory monument in central Baghdad, built to celebrate Iraq's "victory" in the Iraq-Iran war. If I recall correctly both sides had terrible losses and eventually came to a draw after pounding each other mercilessly for almost a decade. Until today I didn't realize there are two sets of crossed swords, one on each side of a very long parade field. The monument is 140 feet high and the swords are made from the guns of dead Iraqi soldiers that were melted and recast as the 24-ton blades of the swords. About 5,000 Iranian helmets taken from the battlefield are at the base of the arms. The fists that hold the swords are repli

Tom encouraged me to post again tonight so I thought I'd tell you a bit about daily life and try something new...a video! It's night time here so you'll have to settle for a video of my digs. One of these days soon, when it is daylight, I will take a video of the outside of my living accommodations. The area I'm in is referred to as Motel 6, once you see the outside set up you'll understand why. The standard work week in Iraq for Army Corps of Engineers employees is 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday - Thursday. On Friday's (the Middle East's version of Sundays) is half day. Which means, I get to sleep in tomorrow and don't have to go into work until 1 p.m. Folks obviously work longer hours when the mission requires it. With my half day off tomorrow I plan to spend the morning unpacking my trunk and getting settled a bit more in my room. You'll see in the video things are still a bit messy, but if you ask Tom he'll probably tell you I tend t

Hello! Welcome to my blog "Pilgrim in the Cradle." This will be my first foray into the blog sphere. I have just embarked on my second voluntary deployment to Iraq as part of my work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a Public Affairs Specialist. Ask any PA and they will tell you they have one of the best jobs in the world. We get to learn about all the cool stuff our organizations do and the great people that make up those organizations and then tell others about them. Working in Public Affairs also requires you to gain an understanding of the programs and inner workings of an organization. Sometimes if you work in one area (such as the left-threaded wing nut department) that may be all an individual knows about -- their particular specialty. Well, my job is about getting to know a little bit about a lot of stuff. Not necessarily being the subject matter expert but able to paint an accurate picture and get folks (mainly media) talking to the experts. So, wha