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Thursday, March 15, 2007
Weedy wonders
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tal Afar, Iraq — I have weeds growing around my CHU (containerized housing unit). If I were back home in Atlanta, I’d be in my garden fighting these very same weeds, yanking them out with bare hands or spraying them with horrible chemicals.
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| Louie Favorite/AJC |
| Various unidentified weeds spring up with recent rains at FOB Sykes near Tal Afar, Iraq, the current home of Atlanta-based Company H, 121st Infantry (ABN)(LRS). |
But here, they are not a nuisance. In fact, they are the only green I see amid sand and gravel.
The patches of crab grass are a good substitute for lawn.
Some of the weeds have started blooming — delicate yellow flowers. I picked a few today, put them in a Styrofoam cup with water and brought them inside.
I thought of a soldier in the 48th Infantry Brigade I met last year at Camp Liberty in Baghdad. He was a landscaper back home and tried to grow a patch of grass behind his trailer. It was an act that defied all odds and eventually his experiment gave in to the elements.
Baghdad is dotted with date palms. I plucked dates and ate them once and even though they were covered in dust, again, it was the simple act that was so exhilarating. In the middle of war, it’s rare to be able to eat fruit freshly picked from a tree.
Not that I am complaining about living arrangements here at Forward Operating Base Sykes. It’s one of the most comfortable military camps in all of Iraq. And, apparently, a well-kept secret.
When I told soldiers in Baghdad that I was going to embed with Company H, 121st Infantry (ABN)(LRS) up at Sykes, almost all had the same reaction. “Where?” they asked. “Never heard of it.”
From the air, Sykes looks much the same as other bases. But the CHUs are comfortable — each has its own heating and air unit. I even have use of a flushable toilet just two minutes away. How’s that for luxury?
Just down the road are the dining hall, post office, PX and recreational facility, which has a movie theater with stadium seating. (I haven’t had time to check out a flick yet and even if I did, I probably wouldn’t admit to it in public lest my editors think I am not working hard enough.)
The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which fought tough battles in Tal Afar in 2005, built most of the amenities in this camp. The Georgia Army National Guard soldiers aknowledge they are lucky to be reaping the benefits.
It’s tough to be away from home for an entire year, especially when you are fighting a war. Soldiers I have met here have all told me the same thing: that they will never again take for granted the lives they left behind in America. Or complain about insignificant things.
Here, in the chaos of Iraq, it’s best just to appreciate what one has and not dwell on all that one is missing.
So, I greet every morning thankful that I am still healthy — and for the yellow flowers struggling to stay alive in front of my doorstep.
