Exit the Haze

After several days of dense haze and high winds, the morning light brought clear skies. Through them, I’ve finally noticed that there are mountains in Afghanland. Go figure. Through the haze, largely dust and humidity, all I could glimpse was a shadow, perhaps miles away, perhaps just outside the wire.


With the change in weather came the change in perspective. Bagram Airfield is located on a high plain surrounded by mountains. They’re probably 10 to 20 miles away, and the height is indeterminant. There’s snow on them, though, even in the middle of a hot July. There are numerous ranges as well, two or three lining up behind the closest rocks.

The snow looks nice and cool, a drastic change from the triple digit highs and uber-humidity that hit here every afternoon. Our poor split unit air conditioner cranks all day, but can’t get the room down to the requested 21 degrees during the day. Sometime in the middle of the night, though, it finally catches up, gradually freezing we B-hut inhabitants by morning, only to fall behind the cooling ball early the next day. You’d like to feel sorry for the poor, overworked split unit, but try to remember that it’s just a machine, and they have yet to take over the planet.