Three Quarters Down

My latest Army adventure (deployment) began on a cold January day in Syracuse when I was dropped off at the 27th Brigade Armory for a uncertain mission that I had no ideal would last as long as it has.  If you asked me what I thought back then ---about the length of the mission---I would have told you I would be back by Valentine's Day.  Well Valentines passed, along with Easter, Memorial Day, 4th of July, my birthday, and Labor Day.  What began in winter, will most likely end in winter.  Although for a time I though I would be home for Halloween, now looks like Christmas.  Like all years, there have been many ups and downs.  So far I have lost a relationship, a dog, and two sugar gliders.  But I have also lost 46 pounds.  This deployment is now in the last quarter.  Roughly 77 days or 11 weeks.  I will miss a couple more holidays, Columbus Day (well its a minor holiday -- but I count it cause it's a day off back home), Halloween, and Thanksgiving.  But for now, I'm dreaming of what that day will feel like when I finally do get home.  It still seems so far away, but when October hits I will be able to say I'm going home month after next.  The long mile around the deployment track will have one more lap to go.  I hope it will be a sprint to the finish and not a Sunday stroll.  Good Bye Summer, Hello Fall.  Way down younder, there's a Christmas candle!