Wet stuff falling from the sky

This picture was very pretty in person, I wasn't sure if I could actually capture the image to share with anyone, or if I wanted to.

The gruesome war monument.

Wet and chilly, but commerce is still happening.

This beautiful building didn't survive "shock and awe." Many of the "targets" were apparently in the great buildings of Baghdad.

Yes, it seems all are confused. Notice the look on Capt Connaroe's face... I think this was the point where Major Brott was explaining that we would have to clean our own latrine...

This is where we are going to build our little Jedi camp. The view is from the watch tower.

Another Cache, notice the white 2 liter bottle. That is HME, highly explosive and made from common chemicals (Home Made Explosive)... Yet another cowardly way to attack coalition forces.

It finally rained. The weather could not be better, if anything it is a little chilly at times. I spent many days in the past wishing it would rain. I don't plan on complaining about the rain any time soon, except for all the mud that gets tracked into my truck.

The mud here is an incredibly sticky substance. It seems to be part clay and dirt mixed, in many places not absorbing into the ground and creating a sort of slush. The atmosphere has become remarkably clear and easier to breath.

Soon we will be moving to Meade. We are all looking forward to finally getting set up and settled in. The unit that is housing us is very receptive and seem happy to have us around. If anything, our time on the road and exposure will be greatly reduced.

We now find ourselves needing to add more time to our visits to the IA brigade. It seems that most of the time when we arrive to the brigade there is a surprise, another cache. This is a very good thing, keeping the weapons out of the hands of bad guys. We need to add more time to allow EOD to come out and confiscate the bombs. The weapons (such as the machine gun) usually go to the Iraqi Army for some purpose or another.

I gave some candy to my IA counterparts and tried to explain Halloween to them. It is perhaps one of my favorite holidays and they seemed amused by the concept. One of the Jundi ran off with the candy and hoarded it. Go figure.

We got two new members on our team, we now total 16. Bond and Puma joined us on Friday giving us five interpreters. These two guys, natives of Iraq, are very easy going and easily fit in with us. Don't expect to see any pictures of them though.

Enjoy the pictures.