Rain = Mud = Blah

It's been just under a month since my last post. In that time very little has happened. I continue to work and see patients daily, as well as continue to maintain some sort of physical conditioning. The physical conditioning typically came in the form of running, which came to a screeching halt 2 weeks ago. Around mid month in January, we were hit with two rather steady rain storms. When I say rain storms, I mean a steady rain that requires a rain coat. Nothing like what I experience in Kentucky with downpours that come down sideways. Nope, this is just a steady rain with a light wind. Enough to make you want to stay in bed and hope that the coffee will make itself and serve you in your bed, from across the FOB. The problem with rain in the desert, is the hard ground. It won't soak in. With really light rain, the sand/dirt will moisten on the surface and cake to your boots like a heavy wet snow. When it rains like it did those two rainy days.... which were spaced out by about 10 days so the ground started to dry and give you hope of easy walking..... everything just turns to mud. I'm talking mud mud. You can't go around it, you have to go through it. There's nothing fabulous or super-duper about it (Reference- the Mud Song from elementary school). The mud comes up to your ankles and covers your boot laces. It comes in the form of slimy thick goopy stuff, to liquified slop. Most of it cakes to your boots regardless of the texture. If I had to choose my preference, I would take the liquidy slop. At least it coated my boots, but didn't give me platforms to walk on. Gortex boots were created and issued to us for weather like this. It is now the 10th of February and there is still standing water and mud in some areas of the FOB, despite warm weather and plenty of sun since the last rainfall on the 21st of January.
Now you can see why I had to stop running. There are no paved roads here. They may look it in the photos that I share, but they are just scraped down, hard packed dirt. They turn to slop as soon as they get wet. Yesterday, my clinic's treadmill arrived, just in time for rainy season to come to an end. I prefer the outdoors anyway---- uncertainty of huge booms (which I missed running next to them by 5 minutes the other day, they were raising their guns to firing position when I ran by... I obviously picked up the pace), the smell of raw sewage being emptied into the sewage ponds, and the smell and smoke of the burning trash heap--- nothing like a great exercise environment. It kind of reminds me of Louisville.... just kidding.... only the smoking trash part applies.
So anyway, things are drying up here and the perimeter road is hardened and pocketed with potholes and rough terrain, but definitely runnable. The temperatures are rising as well. Today was 70 deg and sunny blue skies with a light breeze. Spring weather is here and summer temps are only around the corner. I'm posting some mud pics for you to enjoy. The giant pond is right outside my PT clinic. Then the road outside my clinic and a good photo of some mud on my boot. Exciting stuff.

By the way, 29 January is what we have been measuring as our return date. So we are in our 1 year to go count down.