Just Another Day...Well, Sort Of...

Yes, It's my year at one and forty and I am still here to tell the tale! So far so good...

From and including Friday, August 6, 1965 up to, but not including Sunday, August 6, 2006 it is 14,975 days from the start date to the end date:

or 41 years excluding the end date...

or 1,293,840,000 seconds...

or 21,564,000 minutes...

or 359,400 hours...

or 2139 weeks (rounded down).

Really, being in Africa can be kind of a strange way to spend a birthday, but strange birthdays are not uncommon to me. Some of the many strange and wonderful birthdays I've spent on Earth include a trip to Dodger Stadium in 1986 in which I caught a homerun ball; I've witnessed a full moon peek out amidst a mid-summer night squall while having a beer on a sundeck in Manhattan Beach after a long work night inspire me to write a poem; I have rapelled off a 5 story building in Japan and watched a 3 hour fireworks display in 1994; I have been a guest to several "surprise" birthdays in my honor and had dinners of almost every flavor and caliber that can be imagined. I spent my birthday in 2000 at Fort Benning, Georgia getting beat down by Army Drill Sergeants; I ate a homemade Tunnel of Fudge cake in the BAS on a late night shift in Iraq in 2003; last year I had chance to fall out of a perfectly good aircraft and free-fall for 60 seconds as the wind rushed in my ears, my heart pounded in my chest and my eyes took in everything it could possibly see!

Since beginning my military career in July of 1990 I have had the pleasure to spend 9 birthdays at home with family and loved ones - the other 8 have been with the military either on deployment or during training exercises. I am not weeping as an outcast or wringing my hands in regret - quite the contrary. Although I do miss the warmth, kindness and consideration of well-wishers during a birthday celebrating with family; I have come to accept the less than ordinary occasions and circumstances that come with celebrating a birthday while deployed overseas. For all of the unique and cherished moments, I would not change them or exchange them for anything - the choices I have made dictate such extreme celebrations, and so I must learn to adapt and improvise in order to fill the empty minutes and seconds with as much celebrating as possible!

Today, during the celebration of my year at one and forty, I have received many birthday cards and gifts from family, children and friends - in fact, I received my Mom & Pops gifts in the mail today - thank you for the camera gear and Dodger baseball video! But really, I'm just happy to be here where I am. I am thankful for the air I breathe, the food I eat and the new day which greets my eyes. I am thankful for the love of many people including my wife, my children, family and friends - they have been powerful influences in the changing and shaping of my life and my existence for what it has become, what it continues to evolve into and what it will be in the future. My celebration today is not about another birthday but more about another day of living. The gift of life I have been given from God and my parents is the one gift I treasure most of all! And what is more, I am glad to have this opportunity to share this day with you across the many miles. Even though I cannot be there with you in person, you are all here with me in spirit and I think that counts for so much more...

As it stands, it's another "Happy Birthday" for me! The day will begin and end with an absolute minimum of alcohol-laden speeches and embarrassing pictures. The real news for this Sunday, August 6th of 2006 is that it will turn out to be another in a long-line of 156 carbon-copy days here in Djibouti which suits me just fine. The day will however be added to the long list of many undeniably unique and special birthdays I have managed to spend throughout the world and throughout my brief existence on this crazy, wonderful planet.

Thank you all for making it so special indeed and please save me a piece of cake, okay?