An email from a friend

Kevin sent this in response to an email about how hot it has been in MN. His mom was thinking that we have it pretty good compared to his weather forcast of highs in the 120's and lows in the 90's. This was what he had to say:

Funny. I just got back from a run. 0500 is prime time to run, as it's cool, but the sun is up so we can see fine. It is also funny that I have actually gone outside in the middle of the night (I'm currently on night shift for another week) and it feels cool, almost chilly at 85! Not looking forward to being a day walker again... And yes, Plant life is one of the things I miss. You can't see much more than the occasional weed and all of about 3 trees anywehere!

I got a good repsonse to one of my previous emails a few days ago. This is from one of my groomsmen, Enjoy:

This past weekend I biked the MS 150, a ride from Duluth to the Twin Cities. As I was biking, some ATVs passed on a sandy trail next to me. Initially, I thought about how sore I was from biking 90 miles in two days, how I was out in the 80 degree heat while I was biking, and how the dust the ATVs kicked up was annoying. I was ready to give up and take the 90 miles as a good accomplishment so I could go home and see my wife and my dog.

Then I remembered you, Dave, Ben, and the rest over there in Iraq. I thought about how 80 degrees is a cold day, how dust kicked up by a vehicle is the norm, not the exception, and how in addition to your normal tech type jobs, you have physical work to do too. I thought about how you're not doing this for two days out of the year, but day in and day out. As I kept biking there were people on the side of the road cheering and telling us what a good job we were doing. When I crossed the finish line, there were hundreds of people cheering about how I had done a great thing. All I had done was bike 75 miles a day for two days. I have people telling me at work how impressed they are that I finished it, and I think of my friends in Iraq.

I know I haven't been replying to all of your emails, but I read every one of them, and I think about you over there, separated from your family, friends, and ten week old house. I appreciate all that you are doing for us, and I'm glad to hear that you are doing well. You are the ones that we should be cheering, not some computer tech that decides to get off his ass for two days and pedal a bike. Please feel free to share this with anyone else that you see from our unit.

Nick