Flying over southern Iraq

Dear all,

I am comfortably nestled in a CHU, Central Housing Unit, or mini-trailer room, and have started flying missions over Iraq yesterday. We fly at 1000 ft above ground level and it's like flying over a larger version of the Indian Reservation. The land looks like the area between Phoenix and Yuma without any mountains. The Tigris River winds it's way down from Baghdad and provides irrigation for all the crops that have been established over the last 2000 or so years. It's very 3rd world, in spite of the incredible oil wealth. Most remarkable of all, the air is a dusty, hazy mess up to about 1500 ft, with pollution coming from dust and the very smokey brick factories that belch black smoke. Our EPA would be shutting them down left and right. When I get internet set up in my room, I'll send pictures. It's really shocking to me that a country that has been around this long, has made so little progress. What tyrants can do to a society!


Today, I'll just take my laundry to the cleaners, sort out the footlocker full of Safety publications (meaning throw out the paper version. I'll do everything on the computer.), and start going to the gym with 1LT Grandy. I need to be in shape the next time you see me or you'll think I was on vacation!

love, Chris

Christmas Eve - FOB Delta Style

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the FOB...

Yesterday evening, we received our footlockers which were shipped from Fort Sill. Yahoo! I found my binoculars and "Birds of the Middle East" fieldguide. So far my birdlist is up to 4! I'll list them later... as if you really care!

Today, I dropped off a present, a book on the Desert Fathers, to our Non-denominational Christian Chaplain. He jokingly calls me his "token Orthodox." He's a really kind man and on the inside cover of his book, I thanked him for being brave enough to shepherd this "flock in Iraq." I'm going to go to Christmas Eve service at our Chapel tonight at 1900 hours, then go again on Christmas Day at 1000. No snow on the ground yet, and I can't decide which sock to hang, but I'm sure it's Christmas. My Christmas twinkle lights burned out because of the crazy electricity they use over here. Sheesh! I left them up anyway just as a decoration. One of the soldiers wrapped the door to his room in wrapping paper. We're not going to win any awards for Best Decorations. Oh, well. Find the Joy.

I miss you all immensely, but look forward to being together again and doing all those little things. Take heart and remember what Fr. John Bethancourt always says, "Find the Joy."

Christ is Born! Glorify Him! Merry Christmas everyone.

With much Love,

Poppy / Christopher-Michael / CW3 Pedersen

Now from Iraq

After a not-so-great plane ride, we've arrived in Al Kut with gale force winds and a temp drop near freezing. What a mess. I have my own room, the size of Gunner's in a trailer kinda thing. The base is a dirty, dusty, concrete reinforced place with an outstanding dining hall with food of all sorts. That's fantastic.

I can access internet through the Morale Welfare Recreation (MWR) site until I get internet in my room. The PX is a pit, about the size of a Circle K.

Should be interesting, but bearable.

Anyway, gotta run. Only a limited time on this computer.

Love,

Chris

Note from Kuwait

Dear Friends,

The flight was 15+ hours with deplaning in Bangor, Maine (where we were met by 20+ veterans, great Americans) and Leipzig, Germany (with a nice break for 1.5 hrs). Kuwait is a giant sandbox with zero plants and only two different species of birds that I've seen. I don't have my Birds of the Middle East book. It's in a footlocker somewhere in Iraq. Should be great fun later.


We have giant, insulated tents with wooden floors, realy good food at the Dining Facility, and a PX. Internet seems to work okay. We leave Thursday for Iraq (Wed night your time). I should be out of touch for quite awhile.

Chris

Best Thanksgiving Ever

The Army let me go home from Fort Sill, OK to Tempe, AZ for 4 days during the Thanksgiving Holidays. Here's what I'm especially thankful for.

1. Good Friends along the Whole Way:  From the moment I signed out at Fort Sill, through the airports, on the phone, at Thanksgiving Dinner, out shopping, and back to Fort Sill, I found the nicest people everywhere I turned. I believe to know who you are, don't look in the mirror, look at your closest friends. Using that definition, hey, I'm in pretty good shape!
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2. Orthodox Christianity:  Divine Liturgy Thanksgiving morning was a real blessing. Archbishop Antony, Bishop Daniel (a former Army chaplain, I learned), the one-and-only Father James Coles, candle lights, incense, the icons (especially Jesus, the Theotokos, St Ignatius, and the St Michael, the Archangel), the saints all around us, a pretty good-sized congregation, and Communion! I really, really missed the Orthodox services. Thanks for having this one especially for me... Well, actually, in celebration of Archbishop Antony's ordination, but still, it was a special service. And Vespers Saturday night followed by supper at Wildflower. Ah, memories.

3. The wide open Sonoran desert:  Thanks to Pat, Cristie, Linda, and Lauren (the only person I know who can read Russian literature while rounds are going downrange) for coming out with us Friday morning so Gunner could shoot one more time! Then, later, Christmas shopping and helpful prodding from Cristie for Lauren to visit Fossil to look at a Christmas watch. Nice selection, I might add. That was easy. And pizza and Fat Tire beer. Thanks, Pat.

4. Real Shopping Malls:  Oklahoma may be OK but Arizona has better weather and much better places to find Linda's Christmas ring and Gunner's "surprise" .22 pistol. On sale, no less. Christmas shopping accomplished. You guys can handle the rest.

5. Gate Passes for Families of Deploying Soldiers:  Thanks to Debbie, we got to spend a few more hours together once American Airlines let the family go to the gate. That was really special. I needed those minutes.

6. Grandma Pedersen:  What a special visit. That part of the trip was my greatest fear. If anything could go wrong, it would be that. Even though she was in the hospital and my extended family didn't tell me, our visit went very well. She was coherent, sharp, and very complimentary. Sure do love her. Hope I'm that crazy when I'm old... but keep me out of the Veteran's Hospital. Right, Gunner? You promised to break me out. Gives me something fun to look forward to!

7. Finally, the "Tiger", the "Tornado", and the "Mother Bear":  Or should I say estrogen (xx), testosterone (xy), and the X-factor. (See, I did learn something from Genetics class.) Such a relaxing and enjoyable visit. You're the best family ever!

Thanks to everyone for a special holiday visit.

I'll cherish those days.


(L to R: Chris, Lauren, Gunner, and Linda)

Winter Concert

Last night was the Winter Concert and Art Show at Veritas. It's actually two concerts: the jr. high recorder concert and then the high school choral concert. Veritas has two amazing music teachers in Ms. Manjola Koci, who teaches the junior high classes and directs one of the extracurricular choral groups, and Dr. Laura Inman, still fondly called Ms. Inman by her students, who directs the high school and other choral groups. The music is amazing especially considering that all of the kids participate, not just the ones who want to take music. And the great part is, I think there are very few that don't learn to love it.

Gunner is playing tenor recorder this year and music is now one of his favorite classes. Ms. Koci is both stern and playful. I don't know anyone who can combine stand-up comedy and fear like she does, but those students listen and learn and have a lot of fun, too. She and Gunner get along great. Chris is going to try to find an instrument for her in Iraq, maybe a recorder or flute of some kind. Or maybe just a postcard. :-) She goes to all the jr. high events, football games, etc. in support of her students.

Lauren's in the Honors Choir, made up of juniors and seniors who now no longer take music (they are in drama and art) but still want to sing. They auditioned for it and it's meant to be an outreach group to the community, singing for events and being Veritas ambassadors. They recently sang at a fund raising gala for the Rotary and will sing God Bless America during the Fiesta Bowl pre-game. The big event this year is a trip to Carnegie Hall to sing part of the Easter Mass by Mozart. That will be such an amazing experience for Lauren. New York! Dr. Inman finished her doctorate from ASU in conducting last year, is in the Grammy-winning Phoenix Bach Choir and also conducts the largest choir at ASU as a faculty associate.

A few pictures from the concerts...

Ms. Koci

Our little camera did the best it could.

Gunner and his friends Ben King and Matthew Zabilski. Trouble is brewing, no doubt, but Ms. Koci has them under control.

What you can't see in these pictures is Ms. Koci dancing as she directs.

Gunner and his friend Hannah Tesoriero. I sat with her mom Brenda during their concert.

It's hard to get a natural picture of him. He's such a goofball.

Here's our Lauren in the alto section. She feels short in the back row.

Friends and classmates Brian Oliver, Lauren and Andrea Taylor.

And the obligatory photo of BFFs Lauren and Tara Godzich:

Tara's mom Natalie and I sat together for their concert. It wasn't easy to hold back the tears - I always do that when there are young people performing. I don't even have to know them. Then it's your kids, and they're seniors and you throw in a good patriotic song like America the Beautiful and I had to really concentrate. Wow, they received such applause. Dr. Inman may be tiny but she is a powerful leader and those kids love to sing for her. I'll get a picture of her next time, maybe. She moves around pretty quickly.

Great night and more proof positive that this school is so worth all the driving and the studying.

Aiming to please

Gunner, that is. The boy loves to be out in the desert and shooting at targets with Poppy. He doesn't mind if the rest of us tag along, and he's amazingly patient with the novices taking so long to aim for each shot. Lauren is a very good shot, likes to take her time, but doesn't take f-o-r-e-v-e-r between shots like I do. Chris encourages me to shoot a little faster, you're going to hit it eventually. And I usually do. :-) I don't mind watching everybody else shoot and load whatchamacallits (oh, right, magazines). The boys are sooo in their element.

When Chris was home for Thanksgiving weekend, we knew there would be a trip out to the desert. Why not bring along friends and make it an adventure? Chris wanted to see his longtime friend Pat O'Toole and his bride, Cristie. Cristie is from Pennsylvania, met Pat when she lived in Chicago and they were married last August. She hasn't been out in the desert much, at all, and she was all for a little trip out there. We thought this would be a good way to do a whole bunch of things at the same time.

The weather was perfect. There is no way it could've been better. What a great time we had. See?

Thanks for the photos, Pat and Cristie!

Setting up the targets:

Can you see Pat in the background? He's setting up the targets for the expert shooters.

Happy guys.


Target shooting fun for all:

Pat shooting and Gunner at the ready.

Cristie got quite good with the rifle.

Lauren reading Anna Karenina. A little Tolstoy in the morning.

This is how it's done, Grasshopper.

You show 'em, Lauren.

Gunner and the shotgun.

And then you push that, and check this and hold it like this, and...

Fasting struggles

It's been hard to know how to handle the longer fasts with the kids. First, they are so different in lots of ways, so that makes it hard to fast the same way with both of them. In appetites and nutritional needs, they are opposites. I do not insist that they refrain from meat and dairy throughout the fasts. They fast Sunday mornings, and they both make attempts during the fasts and it comes up in conversation. We were driving home after a lovely dinner with Father James and Kh. Karen and Emma, John and Samuel (thank you!) when this exchange took place:


Gunner: I think I’ll fast from cleaning my room.

Lauren: You’ve already done that for a long time.

Gunner: I could be a monk.

You heard it here first. So much for his career as a lip model.

Is it possible to do your homework project too well?

How much do you know about sea snakes? Well, don't worry about it. There's no quiz at the end. Since sea snakes are pretty rare around the Sonoran desert, we had to Google them to learn more. Gunner had a model and report due and we were ready.

After getting some yellow and black clay at Michaels (unlike the flesh-toned variety at the Workman house), we made a model that looked amazingly like this. Pretty simple, really. A couple of glass beads for eyes, a flattened and dotted tail and done. Glued it to some foam core board covered in wave design paper and finished.

Must've been a pretty good job because the next morning the business end of the snake was removed cleanly from the body. Thank you, Heidi, for saving us from a highly dangerous and toxic snake model but that was MY HOMEWORK! Uh, Mr. Ward, my cat thought it was real, so it must've been good, right?

It was turned in with some repairs, but definitely worse for the wear. P.S. Gunner would like everyone to know that sea snakes are NOT eels, as a few of his classmates would like you to erroneously believe. He has now corrected their youthful mistake.

There will be more photos of actual Pedersens and their activities soon. The camera cord has been located.

H-U-A!

I don't know why, but I always liked it when a soldier shouted a good "H-U-A!" Pilots (including Chris) aren't as apt to shout one out so it isn't something I've heard often. Maybe it's because I can admire someone who can put their commitment "out there" so definitively. A good "H-U-A!" has to be strong. You can't give a wimpy "h-u-a." Or a quiet one. It has to come from deep within and be loud. And you have to mean it. It's the Army/Marine version of "Amen!"

Heard!
Understood!
Acknowledged!

Or

Let it be so!

Kind of the same thing.

I won't be giving a "HUA" in services any time soon, so don't worry Fr. James. But sometimes I'd like to. I know by standing, singing and praying together we are giving the Orthodox version of a HUA, but sometimes I'd like to just shout out. Aren't you all glad I have self control?!

Here's a photo of our soldier taken today, when they learned to manage a check point. With Iraqi actors playing their parts. It's getting a lot more real now. Chris will not be manning check points in Iraq, but they all need to know how, just in case. Like learning how to survive a Humvee rollover or give an IV to a buddy. It's all good to know.

I'd stop, wouldn't you?!

The American Flag Shoulder Patch

One of our younger soldiers was talking with his equally young soldier friends and couldn't find the answer to his question. So, he decided to seek counsel from one of the old pilots. "On our uniform, why does the American Flag face the wrong way?" he asked.

Hmm, thought the old, make that older, pilot to himself, that's a good one. It appears to be backwards to the traditional way that usually has the stars on the left side. But, because he had been around so long and could think on his feet, he came up with an answer. "First of all, the right shoulder of our uniform is reserved for combat patches. Since all of America is at war, the Global War on Terrorism, we wear the American Flag on that shoulder. Second, in battle the flag bearer would carry the Stars and Stripes alongside the Commander for all the unit soldiers to see and follow regardless of the chaos of the battle. As the flag bearer charged forward, the stars would preceed the stripes because that's the way the flag was attached to the flag staff. Our flag charges forward regardless of which way we look at it, right?"

"Makes sense. Thank you," said the soldier.

"You're welcome young grasshopper," said the sage, veteran aviator.

Now you know, too.

In honor of all Veteran's and their supporting families and friends, HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY.


Chief Warrant Officer 3 Chris Pedersen

Safety Tips for Exercising

As well as being a Blackhawk helicopter pilot, I'm the A Company "Aviation Safety Officer." What it really means is I'm a mother hen & a nag to all my fellow A Co. soldiers to make sure they do everything with safety in mind.

Frequently in the evening (22 times out of 35 days here) I go for "power walks" with the self-imposed goal of always walking further than I did the previous time. My iPhone has been a great diversion allowing me to get a free "App" (Application) called iTreadmill, which estimates distance, time, pace, calories, and keeps a historical record. Who knows if it's right, but it's in the general vicinity. Lately, I've been adding pushups & situps starting with 10 of each (remember, start small) & adding 5 every time. Oh, I forgot to tell you. With my schedule, I can only exercise at night. Things got a lot darker when Oklahoma went to daylight savings time, let me tell you! On a few walks, I've gone out in a pouring rain, encountered an angry mother racoon and her youngster, and almost stepped on a skunk! Whew. Don't know who was more scared... Yes I do. It was me!

Well, tonight wasn't as much fun as those other times, but it was interesting. Altogether, I walked briskly for 2.57 miles. At the half-way point (mile 1.25) by a canon in front of Fort Sill HQ, I did 50 pushups and 50 situps, then I started "cruising" back home.Yeh, I was moving briskly and in the groove. Then, things got weird. For part of my walk, I divert through the "Colonel's neighborhood", with big, historic homes around the old Fort Sill quadrangle. I'm sure that's not where soldiers should be doing their PT, so I try to admire the architecture and get through there undetected. But tonight, I saw a car with it's interior dome light on. I'm certain the battery would be dead by the morning if it stayed that way. I tried to ignore it and quickly get out of the AO (Area of Operations), but my conscience wouldn't let me. So, I cautiously approached the residence, rang the doorbell, and waited. Out came a distinguished gentleman with a gray flat-top haircut. "I'm sorry for bothering you, sir, but a dome light is on in one of your cars out front," I said. "Well, thank you," spoke the distinguished Colonel. Before he could ask me what I was doing in HIS neighborhood, I disappeared into the dark as quickly as I could. Less than 200 feet later, you guesssed it. Another car with it's dome light on. Enough! I zipped past it. Tough. Too many forgetful Colonels on this street!

Just after that, a car pulled up next to me. "Excuse me, sir," asked a woman driver. "Do you know the way to Sheridan Street? I've been driving around the neighborhood for quite a while, and I'm lost." Well, iPhone to the rescue! I pulled up the map of Fort Sill and showed it to her. "Feel free to study it for a while," I offered. "This is how you expand the picture if you need to," I explained next. So she studied it, expanded it, thanked me, drove off, and promptly turned down the wrong street! Still lost. That good deed went bad quickly! Luckily, a few minutes later her car emerged from the neighborhood up ahead and back on the right street. Okay, I'll call that a successful save.

Then, a good friend, (Major) Pat O'Toole texted me, "So do u guys get any free time for Monday night football?" he inquired. I was still walking alongside a poorly lit, winding road, and 3/4 of a mile from my barracks. Another diversion. Okay, let's chat. Pat's always entertaining. Type, type, type, text, text, text. Do you know, if you stare at a lit iPhone and try to text and walk at the same time, you loose all your night vision? Pilots learn and study such topics. Oops, the Safety Officer wandered off the dimly lit path and almost walked into a street sign! No, not once but two times!! Wouldn't that make an interesting accident report? Okay, I learned my lesson. I stopped under a lamp post and finished texting Pat.

These "power walks" are getting to be great, little adventures... except for the skunk. Wouldn't call that one "great." Anyone else having great, little adventures? Hope so.

Love, Chris/Poppy.

Was this what you saw, Clay?

Clay. Did your hawk look at you like this?

Chris' Flight Consultants, Inc.

For Gunner

By now, most of our friends know that "Gunner" is really just our son's nickname. Fourteen and a half years ago, I flew Apache helicopters and was a company commander. As the front seater of the tandem two-seater, my primary duties included working the radios and directing target attacks for the company. That crewmember was called a "Copilot/Gunner." Linda was pregnant at the time and while cradling the growing bulge in her belly proclaimed, "I have my own front seater, my own Gunner." Great, I thought. We'll call him Gunner. "No, that sounds too violent," I was informed. "Let's name him Craig" after the best man at our wedding. Well, of course, his real given name became Craig, but as Lauren has so aptly pointed out, "Mommy, everyone calls him 'Gunner' so that's what he'll be known as."

Well exactly one month ago today, imagine my surprise when we pulled into Fort Sill. There right in front of me at the east entrance, was a building with a large sign out front, "Gunner's Inn." Apparently, the artillery soldiers that are learning their trade here are called "Gunner". Coincidentaly, within our Aviation community the side door gunners are also called "Gunners". What I mean is they are CALLED "Gunner!" As in "GUNNER, TARGET! 10 O'CLOCK, 300 METERS!" (Which, of course, implies take care of things, Gunner! And they do very well, thank you.)

So here's your picture, Gunner. While I'm away on this deployment could you please do me a favor? "GUNNER, TAKE CARE OF THINGS!" (such as your mother, sister, and school work). Love you, buddy.

P.S. Later, I'll write how Lauren got her name. It's a good story.

Happy one monthiversary!

The kids and I planned to celebrate each month of Chris' deployment with something special, something like a fun dinner out, a hike, early morning bird-watching, something unusal. Gunner and I were going to be at the church retreat at St. Paisius monastery this weekend and Lauren was going to be taking the SAT and staying with Tara and Natalie for the weekend. Not really what I had in mind as a family celebration, but definitely not things we do very often. Except Lauren has the flu. So, we all stayed home, watched Home Alone and ate whatever sounded good. Except I burned Gunner's pizza. Lauren barely touched her chicken noodle soup. Now the cats are sick, too. At least we were able to talk to Chris. You know, this is what makes celebrations like this memorable. And, we can only go up from here!

Anyone ever heard of Mauritania?

Swaziland? Of course. It's a tiny little country within the boundary of South Africa. How about Morocco? Everybody knows of Morocco. Even some of the lesser known countries in Africa sound familiar...Namibia, Malawi, Guinea, Chad, Togo. But Mauritania? Nope. Not in the memory banks. And it isn't little, even small, by African standards. Medium large-sized and on the Western Coast. Actually, it's the world's 29th-largest country, after Bolivia. Am I the only one unfamiliar with this country? Well, now I know. The things we learn when helping our kids study!

What's happening to Gunner?

He looks like the same boy, sounds like the same boy, but something's definitely different.

Example 1: We had to swing by Arizona Mills mall the other day on the way home from school to look for a homecoming dress for Lauren. They're still in uniform, which makes a difference since we were entering the world of hip hop and punk. Gunner is not comfortable in this situation. Nonetheless, after providing some food, he was pretty patient. He bought a book at the Border's outlet and even donated a couple dollars (of his own money!) to the domestic violence shelter. Lauren wasn't successful until we happened to notice ONE MORE store on our way out of the mall. Gunner sighed heavily when we veered into shop. He had brought along some Lit/Comp homework (at my instruction) just in case, leaned against the counter and read his homework. Lauren found about five or six dresses to try on, but you know that we had to look at ALL the dresses to find those. As she tried on the dresses, Gunner and I sat on stools to wait. The fashion show began. Do you like this one? What do you think of this one? I love this one but can we change the hem? Gunner dutifully gave his opinion on each dress. When it came down to two, he gave his opinion one more time. His opinion mattered and we walked away with a dress, a happy girl and a patient, involved brother. WHAT?

Example 2: THE NEXT DAY we all trooped off to Urban Outfitters for shoes to match the homecoming dress, in school uniforms again, and after already waiting at the MVD for Lauren to take her driver permit test. Gunner was impatient so he and I walked down Mill Avenue, past all the street kids, to Mojo for some frozen yogurt. (It must be the time of year, but I thought the selection of 'Corpse Bride' as the movie to play for customers was a little hard to take while eating my yogurt.) When we got back to Urban Outfitters, Lauren was just about ready to go into the dressing room (no shoes, but so many other things to try on!) and Gunner was starting to show his usual signs of shopping weariness. He decided he'd go upstairs and look at the guy clothes. A bit later he calls me on my cell to tell me he's found the shoes he's been wanting. A little after that he calls to say he's found some "skinny" jeans and could he pay for one if I pay for the other. WHAT? I send his sister up to check out the jeans, knowing she'll steer him away if they look too crazy. I'm thinking his build is not right for skinny jeans. Luckily, they're just straight, not skin tight. He paid for his own shoes with his own money. He said it felt good to buy his own clothes. Now he was all set for the girl's birthday party he was going to the next night. Left with happy girl, happy boy and good stuff for both. This is weird.

Example 3: Then yesterday, after an extremely busy weekend, we were driving to the school picnic and they mentioned that Matthew wanted to go to a movie at the dollar theater later that evening. Hmm, I guess if all your homework is done (knowing it was unlikely) by the time you have to leave, that would be okay.

On the way home from the picnic, Gunner says, "I think we should call Matthew and tell him we should schedule it for next weekend, when we haven't been so busy." WHAT? I don't expect this from him. It would take a bulldozer to keep him from doing something with Matthew. He asked me to quiz him on the geographical features of Africa and then I checked his homework agenda. Did you do this? This? Yep, to all. How about these four math problems? Do you want me to see if I can figure them out? No, I'm saving those to go over with the teacher during tutoring. WHAT? How about we look over the Latin reading for tomorrow? Okay. OKAY? No protest? So we go through it. He heads to bed before 10:30.

Example 4: He was ready before Lauren this morning. And he got the BMW started to move it out of the way of the POD. I couldn't get the car to accept the security code right, apparently. He even agreed to listen to something other than the Beatles, Wolfmother, Dear and the Headlights or Weezer this morning. What is going on?  I can't decide. Being 14? Being the "man" of the house? His allergy drops are clearing his sinuses?Some synapse in the deep, dark recesses of his brain decided to fire?

Example 5: I asked him to do something and he said, "Aye, aye captain." SERIOUSLY? What happened to no, hold on and all those other response that mean are you kidding me?

I think it's because we finally made an appointment to have him tested for ADHD/ADD and possible learning disorders. Nothing like having everything working great when you take it to the mechanic. No really, it was making this awful grinding noise. Right here, whenever I did this.

The Best Treat Ever...Well, Almost.

Something isn't right with the "iTreadmill" application I have for my iPhone. Tonight I walked further, and it read shorter! That really isn't fair.

From nine walks, I'm up to 17.46 miles. It should be closer to 90 miles. Sure feels like it. Last night I ventured out in a driving rain. The last three nights I've added push-ups and sit-ups. First, 20 each. Then, 25. Tonight, 30. My routine is I walk halfway, turn unto a concrete pad that has a canon on it, do my push-ups and sit-ups, then complete the other half. It clears my mind and gives me some alone time.

Unfortunately, tonight I was really hungry by the 1 mile point. By 1.5 I was getting stomach pains, I was so hungry. By 2.0 I was dizzy and thinking of sweets. Finally, just before 2.5 miles, I was crawling on my hands and knees dreaming of anything with mega-sugar in it... maybe I exagerate just a tiny bit.


Anyway, when I finally staggered back to my room, I scoured my food supplies for anything sweet. Mixed nuts - nope. Though there were 3 raisins in the bag. Protein bars - Ha, not even real sugar.

Then, my eyes spied the Halloween bag that Tyler's girlfriend, Natalie, had mailed last week. Yep, I'm "ROOMIE 1" (see the pic). Inside, nestled deep in the bottom of the orange bag was an envelope labeled "Eat at your own risk!" Yes, the super, secret envelope was even sealed. Must be something bad. I peeled the envelope open and spied it...No, I sniffed it (Just like Gunner). Actually, I spent several seconds sniffing it (Now that's really just like Gunner). No sense in diving right in. There it was, the treat of my dreams. A real, live 4 inch diameter, 1/4 inch thick, 36 chip, 100 carat, 200 calorie, CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE!!! Hastily, I started to devour it then realized NO. I need to document this historic moment. Thus, the picture.


So there it is in the picture. A half-eaten cookie nicely posed on my bunk next to the it's mother ship, the "Roomie 1" Halloween bag. I told Tyler to pass on to Natalie how happy the cookie made me. It's the greatest sweet ever... No, wait a minute. There's something even better. Much better. Much bigger... and bigger is better. I faintly remember a humongous, double-layer, 32-slice, double-bagged-for-freshness, special for me only, USPS special delivery bag of CHOCOLATE BROWNIES! Those were the best sweets ever. Too bad I devoured them before I even thought of taking a picture. They were sooooo goooood!!!!!

How do we cope with stressful situations?

Dearest Lauren and Gunner, please read that question above and consider it carefully.

One day last week I was riding in a 15-passenger van back from the hospital in the late afternoon. It was well past lunch time so we were all anxious to get home. We had just spent most of the day getting poked and prodded by doctors and nurses and technicians. They were only doing their job; just making sure we were healthy enough to be sent into a war zone. In the van were other pilots from my unit and a couple privates who wanted to catch a ride back to their rooms. Soldiers in the military have many ways of coping with unfamiliar pressures. Most crack jokes, complain about everything, and do anything they can to take their mind off their loneliness and apprehension at going to dangerous places. Instead of going straight back to the barracks, the van made a few side stops to take care of some other business. A young, female private curled up in a ball on the seat next to me not-so-politely complained, "When are we going back to the barracks? I'm confined to quarters since I've been throwing up the past few days and I'm starving." That throwing-up part really got our attention, and as Soldiers will do, they made fun of her illness.

Now, for the most part, I try to be quiet and stay out of the fun-making, but for some reason I couldn't help myself. "Must be the baby," I quipped. Eyes shot looks of surprise at me. CW3 Pedersen never makes fun of anybody, much less saying something so outrageous! Okay, I overstepped my bounds. The female private shrugged off the dumb comment and curled up even tighter. She reminded me of a pill bug. You know, a roly-poly. An isopod (Yes, I remember weird things from Biology.)

"Okay, I feel terrible about making fun of you like that. Especially, like that. I insist on buying you something to eat. And no, you can't say no. Driver, pull into that Burger King." Well, since I have a considerable amount of seniority, the driver did as I ordered. Through the drive-thru we went... and you know how I hate drive-thrus. "Order anything you want. I'm buying," I offered. The "pill bug" perked right up. "Let me see. I'll have the #6 combo meal with large fries and a large Sprite," she said. The driver repeated the order, and we rolled up to the window. Out the window went my $20 bill; back in came a 10 and some ones. "Oh, I didn't know they had milk shakes," said the ravenous roly-poly. "Might as well," I said and back out the window went all my ones. One of the lieutenants in the van looked at me and rolled his eyes. The roly-poly was obviously getting her moneys worth out of my guilt trip.

Later, we finally pulled up into the parking lot in front of our barracks. The pillbug stopped stuffing fries in her mouth long enough to stumble out of the van and promptly spill her Sprite. Oh well, at least she had a shake left. She seemed to be coping with her hunger pains quite well. But that isn't the end of the story.

Two days later, we heard a loud knock on our door at 0500; that's 5:00 am, Oh-dark-thirty. "What?" "Everyone up right now. Get a uniform on. Head down to the day room. And don't go to the bathroom," ordered a stern lieutenant. You've probably heard of such things. A surprise urine test! Yes, we were all getting drug tested. The samples are screened for marijuana, barbituates, etc.

Seems some Soldier in the battalion had overdosed the day before. The Soldier was going to live but life would get extra hard for the rest of us. Worse yet, the soldier had the same last name as the roly-poly. I won't repeat her name here. You never know who might know her. Seems she OD'd on something much worse than the drugs I mentioned before. She chose one of the worst - cocaine. That explained her throwing up and other sicknesses. How anyone who volunteers to come into the military can chose to throw away all that effort is beyond me. Her life is now in ruins. She'll be forced out of the Army soon, but not before she loses all her pay, goes to prison for at least the length of our deployment, and is given a dishonorable discharge (which should make getting another job very difficult). Her family back in Arizona will be shocked and humiliated. She'll return a complete failure.

So we all have ways to cope with the stress of this deployment. Me? I read and pray alot. Much more than I ever did before. And especially I think of all the things I'll miss doing with both of you these 400 days. Picking you up after school. Shooting. Shopping. Going to football games. Teaching Lauren to drive a BMW stick shift. Going to church. Driving you and your friends anywhere so you can hang out with quality people. Giving you mini-lectures on life (Sorry, couldn't leave that one out.)

I can only pray that God, Mommy, and good friends will pick up where I have abandoned you, albeit for a noble cause. Please make good decisions in your lives. It's your life, but I feel the pain of your stress and the joy of your success. I love you more than you know and miss you both, my dearest Lauren and Gunner.

Getting to know Oklahoma

Along with all the snazzy new olive drab and tan stuff Chris has received over the last few weeks, he decided to add a new "all-terrain troop transport vehicle" (ATTV). Not your run-of-the-mill Army issue "ATTV," either. His are black and grey!

He's keeping to his walking schedule for fitness and sanity. And that's when he gets his wildlife (and livestock) sightings, too. Just to prove what wildlife nerds we really are, he has his "Birds of the Middle East" book packed with all his Iraq gear. We're all looking forward to his photos of Iraqi wildlife (sand scorpions?). Especially Gunner.

Fort Sill, OK

400 days. That's how long my orders say I'll be deployed to Oklahoma, Kuwait, and Southern Iraq. Hopefully, this blog will entertain us all and make the time go faster.

On 6 Oct 2009, our flight of 10 Blackhawk helicopters left Phoenix. Yeh, I almost got to blow over a Channel 3 reporter and camerman who thought they'd get an "up close & personal" report. Good fun. We flew to Gallup, NM (fuel stop), then Las Vegas, NM (more fuel and pizza for lunch...yuck), then Amarillo, TX (more fuel), then finally to Ft Sill, OK which is south of Oklahoma City, a total of 7 flight hours.

Over the last 7 days, our Arizona Army National Guard unit has received new clothing and equipment, spent one day of medical exams (where a very masculine, female(?) flight surgeon circled my medical folder as "No-Go". She (he?) took an inordinate amount of glee in telling this old(er) pilot that his hearing was bad... but we already knew that. I felt like I was kicked in the gut. They were going to pull me out, ground me, and kick me out of the Guard. Luckily, I was rescued by our own AZ flight surgeon who magically produced a Hearing Waiver for me). Also, so far we've learned how to get out of a rolled over Humvee (which is interesting but requires a Kevlar helmet, shoulder & knee pads), and flown exactly 1 day. I learned an iPhone can track even from the air and can display a satellite map. Pretty nice. Thanks, Linda, for the going-away gift. It's fast becoming indispensible.

So what's a typical Army day like? We wake up at 5:30 am, ride a bus to breakfast (cafeteria-style) in a big, white mobile tent-like building, ride a bus to the airfield, go to classes, ride a bus to lunch, ingest more calories, ride a bus back to the airfield, attend classes on helicopter stuff, then, you guessed it, ride another bus to supper, eat even more calories, then ride a bus back to our rooms. More often, than not we have more classes at night and get done around 9:00 pm.

When we don't have night classes, I go for a power walk to clear my head and take pictures of interesting sites, like Staff Sergeant Big Deuce VI, an Army donkey, and Corporal Shortround IV, an Army goat. Big Deuce has lost stripes for pooping on the parade route. Once, the donkey was charged with an Article 15 (Court Martial) for chewing off the ear of the goat! Lucky, the donkey got off on a technicality or he'd be out of the Army. By the way, both receive a military paycheck to cover expenses and vet bills.

There, now you know what it's like to be in a deploying Army Aviation unit going to Iraq. Two full months of riding buses and eating in the big, white tent. I'll be car sick and weigh close to 300 pounds! (Photos to follow once I figure out how to transfer them to the blog from the iPhone.)

I try to say morning and evening prayers most days, miss my Orthodox friends more than I ever imagined, call my family every day, and have a new best friend... the iPhone! Speaking of friends, later I'll tell you about my roommates. They're absolutely crazy.

What happened next? We ate.

After Chris took off, the rest of us flew to Gommie and PaLo's in Albuquerque, ate homemade pies (cherry and lemon meringue), cookies and much many more good foods. Yum, how much we need to exercise now! We bought Gunner new jeans on sale (woo hoo) and didn't shop with Lauren at all (unheard of but she was sick the first part of the visit). We drove up to the Jemez Mountains, boys in the truck and girls in the car, and saw beautiful yellow leaves on the cottonwoods and aspens. We hiked to Jemez Falls and looked for elk in an immense caldera, but they were resting in the shade somewhere. And, of course, watched birds and walked in the favorite neighborhood on the other side of the park. Oh, and don't forget the three-night-long dominoes tournament where Gunner started strong, Lauren surged ahead, and Gommie prevailed. Yes, I played too, but we're not talking about that.

Now we're back to work and school and trying to get into a schedule. It's not easy but we're working at it. God be with us and with you.

ls

One week down!

One week down, only 56 to go! No, I'm not going to count off every week here, but it's a good starting place. Let's see, we watched "the take-off" on October 6th at 7 a.m., a very exciting and proud moment. Watch the Channel 3 video and see Chris wave and salute from the pilot seat in the 10th (last) helicopter when the camera pans back. After all the anxious moments and build up, we were finally at the moment of departure, and when they took off into the rising sun, it seemed all right.

After they took off, they turned left at Scottsdale Road and McDowell and flew up to north Scottsdale to buzz a hospital where one of their fellow pilots was recovering from surgery. He was very upset at not being able to go with them. Chris' helicopter came in over the hospital lower than the others, just to let him know they were serious about the fly by. Along the way, our friend Suzy Dodds was waving from St. Daniel church parking lot with a bus load of new friends and paper letters taped to the top of their van: ZAPS "heart" CHRIS. Another great Suzy adventure! As the helicopters flew over Santa Fe, Chris texted Fr. John Bethancourt to say "hi."

Since then, it's been one exciting day after the next for Chris. Maybe he'll tell us about his new friends Popsicle, Corporal Shortround IV and Staff Sgt Big Deuce VI.

ls

Deployment

(aka Photo Opportunities). There were lots of photo opportunities leading up to Chris' departure, but sadly we aren't in the habit of bringing the camera along. I would get it as far as the car and then when it was time to get out and go to an event, I would be thinking only of taking as little as possible. My brain can't handle calculus problems anymore, either. Sorry, Lauren.

Anyway, since we're trying to get the hang of the blog, I'm going to attempt to post some photos that we took on Chris' handy dandy new iPhone next to one of the Black Hawk helicopters on Saturday, October 1 at the battalion barbeque. Sorry about the sunglasses - we were looking right into the sun.

The Year Begins

The journey began long ago, but this year's chapter will unfold in text and images instead of side-by-side as witnesses to each other's lives. God is with us and we will follow Him and rely on Him through it all.
ls