Tonight I warmed myself up a bit of tomato soup as I reviewed the news of the day. I read through the lastest Herald News from Rhea County Tennessee to be reminded of past holiday walks through the town and I found myself feeling homesick for an old fashioned Tennessee Christmas. I have a friend who owns a soup and sandwich shop in Dayton, Jacob Meyers Deli - a must stop if you are ever through there! He makes the most incredible soups. During the annual holiday walk all the shops decorate and are open late displaying their best wares and good old fashioned southern mountain hospitality.
Today was a good day though. Received more care packages that I distributed to our troops including several fairly large calling cards that I passed on to a couple of our first sergeants suspecting that as the holidays come closer they will have some troops that will need to reach out and touch home a little more frequently than usual.
I am working with our engineers to craft a Tree Lighting ceremony for the kickoff of our holiday celebrations in December. I truly believe these guys could build anything. We joke that if you give an Air Force engineer some duct tape and 5/50 cord he can repair or build anything, but I am beginning to see this as less of an exaggeration than one might expect. I've come to use duct tape for some trendous things myself from building myself storage shelves (you'd have to see it to believe it) to a radio hanger for my body armor. Of course that doesn't quite measure up to another friend from Dayton who several years ago tied his car door back on after it fell off with an orange extension cord his girlfriend secured somewhere. Give a whole new meaning to model T (inside joke for those in the know.)
Anyway, just a chance to say a little shout out and Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to my friends back home in Rhea County! Look out on the mountains for me.
