11 Zones

11 time zones from where I started, 19 1/2 hours total elapsed time from wheels up to wheels down. 3 separate legs (4 hrs, 4 1/2 hrs, and 5 1/2 hrs) with average down time between flights 2 hours. I've got two relatively short hops to make before I get to my final destination, right now SWAG says both legs are by air, one at night. I'm not fully functional in the new time zone, but getting there. The food has been truly outstanding, both on the air and on the ground at every stop, and accomodations, support and other arrangements have been better than expected all the way along. This being the military, there has been plenty of "hurry up and wait" at beginning (as Sheryl reported), and plenty of SWAG (most of it bum scoop) since getting here, but it is amazing how much can be accomplished with so many people if there is a good plan, it is adequately communicated, and people are willing to be patient.

Within a 1/2 hour of wheels down, I was feeling an overwhelming sense of sadness. Most keenly felt was the ache of my recent farewell to Sheryl and Joshua, and the anticipation of containing that sadness continually for the next twelve months. Added to this was: sadness for the similar experiences of the many men and women with me on this mission; sadness for the people of this land who will not, cannot, or are denied the opportunity to achieve Peace; sadness for a vast and still magnificent land deprived of so much of its diversity, majesty and bounty; and sadness for the blood, sweat, tears, anguish, marginalization, disenfrachisement and lack of tolerance that will doubtless continue to affect this land and its people in the grasping for a different future than the path of least resistance.

I also have Hope. I thank God for that, for His Grace that gives us the opportunity to serve Him and each other to vanquish entropy, restore meaning, and bring dignity to otherwise meaningless human endeavor.

Semper Fi, Jon G.