Observations of the day

Looking out from my tower at just after 10 AM, one could already see the heat shimmers dancing up from the desert floor. Three boys, crowded onto one bike pedal slowly up the road. Nearby, three more boys practice soccer. A large bird (possibly a vulture?) wheels effortlessly on the thermals rising up the slopes of Mt. Mother. A few workers spend their holy day building walls of cinderblocks for new houses.

As the sun and the wind clear the early morning haze, the western mountains seem to fade into sight against the sky. Nearer the tower, the odd local ants (quite large with a sharply raised abdomen) enjoy an unexpected windfall of muffin crumbs. One of our terps (interpreters) jokingly said that those ants worked with the Taliban, earning them the sobriquet of Talib-ants.

Little vehicular traffic on the roads, one man has gotten off of his motorcycle to pray. The loudest souds are the hum of the generators and the whistle of the wind through the concertina wire on the walls.

All-in-all a quiet, peaceful day in the desert.