Outdoor Memories

Being deployed is hard.  You have the obvious things that make day to day life difficult. Things like separation from loved ones, living conditions, unbearable heat, dust, food (don't get me started on that one) and a plethora of other things that make life as a deployed Soldier uncomfortable.  Then there is the ones that aren't so obvious.  They differ from person to person but I am confident everyone Soldier has their own cross to bear.  Mine is being away from home during Autumn bird season.  I have tried this year to combat the inevitable deployment depression by planning my midtour leave to coincide with Quail and Pheasant season in Kansas.  Now, I told my Commander I needed that date due to my anniversary which just so happens to be the 18th of Nov.  So....technically, I'm taking leave to coincide with my anniversary, but lets not get into semantics.  In the meantime, between now and November I will just have to console myself by remembering hunts that have come and gone.  And, of course living vicariously through the photos and emails of friends out there chasing the upland birds that I love so much.  I can always find solace in my outdoor memories despite whatever hardships I may be enduring at the time.