Cold, wet, and dirty.

Sunday we started Squad Lane training. For three days it was warm and sunny, with highs in the low 70's, or high 60's, and the sky was blue and clear. The air was dry, and it was fantastic.

Wednesday, I had a filling put in and discovered that Novacaine knocks me for a loop these days. The company moved on to Platoon Lane training, and the weather started to go bad. Today...

Today, it rained. It rained a little at first. Then when we went out on the lane, it poured down. We got so wet the water drained down our pants legs into our boots and our feet went "squish squish." Then, the platoon I'm attached to decided to skip lunch for some reason. And when we prepared to do our live fire in the afternoon, the range was closed. So, they sent us downrange to police up the brass (technically 2nd platoon's job, but since they had just finished their training, they were having an AAR and it fell to us, even though we had already done the ammo detail as well). While we were downrange, the bottom fell out and it rained so hard you couldn't see 50 feet. But we still had to pick up brass, so we were out in this monsoon for about 20 minutes, crawling around on our hands and knees, picking up brass and dumping it into wooden boxes.

In between times on the range, we had been in tactical positions in the woodline. Meaning, we were lying on the cold, wet ground, getting dirt and soot (they've control-burned most of the undergrowth around the ranges) all over our uniforms, weapons and gear.

When we got back to the rear, I discovered that, like a fool, I'd left my cell phone charger out in the tent city, which means it's pretty much gone. I'll have to buy another (or two more) if I want to talk to my wife again. Which, of course, I do want.

It's funny. At the end of training on Tuesday, my uniform was so soaked with sweat that I had to change it when I came to the rear for my dental appointment on Wednesday. Today, my uniform was just plain soaked when I came in from the field.

I came to read my email and got several encouraging emails from friends. God really knows how, and when, to give you a boost.