The sun's rising over black creek again,
and I'm crossing the bridge to our island,
I know your waiting.

The dawn splashes warm across my face,
it greets me as I near your embrace,
it leaves me smiling.

All the light are off,
except in your room,
the house smells like coffee,
I breathe in the brew,
it always makes you happy.

I sneak up the stairs to your room,
Muse is playing and it's freezing to,
I crawl 'neath your covers.

You hear and cross the room towards me,
lean in close and kiss good morning,
dear God I love you.

I now can face the day,
I know you see the flame,
burning deep within my chest,
I breathe in all of you,
It always makes me happy.

Apocalypse Now... or Later?

What is wrong with the world today? Hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, wildfires. What's the deal? Chris swears to God that the world is going to end in 2012. He says it's in the bible code. I, however, make no such attempts at reading the future. What I can tell you, is that I think that the world seems to becoming an increasingly unstable place. Pax Americana couldn't last forever. I just thank God that I'm on the path to be well positioned to make a difference.

I haven't had time to really read any novels lately, but I've been poking around on the web for some new poetry to get into, but have yet to find anything interesting. Any suggestions?

Winter break is rapidly approaching, and I couldn't be more excited. I'll be getting my orders to Ft. Benning should be coming in soon, so my dates at jump school will be fixed. Then, with my $1600 bonus, I'm going to start planning an interesting vacation.

I have no idea what to get ANYONE for Christmas.

I haven't posted recently because I've had a rough week or so and I don't like to constantly post negative things.

GMC seems to be high school all over again, but worse. When I was in high school, I could go home and sit in my room free from interruption, or go to Mer's house and have a cup of tea and relax. In the barracks people are constantly in and out of our room, partly because they don't know how to respect other's privacy and partly because my roommate doesn't value his alone time as much as I do. I just need time to stop and regroup, and I rarely get that around here.

I'm also receiving a lot of pressure from many different angles. Major Hunt seems to have taken it upon himself to turn me into some sort of super soldier. When he handed Chris his midterm score today he said, "Good job, Walters." When he handed me mine he said, "You can do better, Burns." Chris made a 91. I made a 103. I missed one question. Shoot me now. Chris told me not to worry because I wasn't Jesus. Also, my buddies have been trying to pressure me into not taking any of the training seriously. They even went so far as to answer the phone when Mer called and explain to her that while I would be awesome in the real Army, that we weren't in the Army yet (In their defense I wasn't in the room at the time, and that wasn't the entire conversation). Mer casually pointed out that we were. That's my girl.

Saturday I volunteered for the most hellacious ruckmarch I've been on yet. 6 hours with a 100 hundred pound ruck around the football field and up the stadium. Chris quit after 4 hours, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. He got angry when he realized I wasn't going to walk off the field with him. I suppose he expected me to throw in the towel whenever he did.

I haven't been able to register for classes yet, and Friday is the last day.

Life isn't all bad though. I'm headed to airborne school in a month, and after this weekend we will be officially crested cadets. I look forward to coming home for winter break and seeing everyone. I'm on the final sprint until the end of the quarter. It also looks like I have straight A's, which means I'll have no study hall next quarter.

Well, Ranger Challenge has been cancelled because of Hurricane Wilma. The storm will be preventing many schools from Florida and the Carribean from making it to the competition. So basically, this past 7 weeks of crazy training has been for nothing. At least I got a good work out from it all.

Unfortunately, many of my friends have decided to give up on GMC. It seems like the cool thing around here right now is to not care. None of my buddies seem even remotely interested in doing the right thing anymore. Being the only person that is standing up and doing what they should is a lonely feeling.

I was in the front lean and rest (push-up position) last night while several of the 400s spent a good 20-30 minutes telling me why they don't like me. Apparently I have once again failed to win the popularity contest, probably because I never set out to win it in the first place. They did mention something about possible Ranger Commander next year though.

I got a parking ticket because someone scraped the decal off of my rear window.

I can't register for classes because I have some issue with my book voucher and I owe the school almost 300 dollars. I also still have to pay that speeding ticket.

I now have to leave for the most boring class ever. See how much I complain? What a soldier huh?

At ease...

This morning is gorgeous. I don't think that I ever appreciated the fall because I've spent most of my life in Florida. Back home it just gets cold and starts to rain a little more. Here in Georgia it cools down to a refreshing 65 or 70 degrees, the skies are blue, the birds are singing, and a crisp breeze blows right through you and makes you feel alive. The campus has been all dressed up for alumni weekend with flowers, hay bales, lanterns, and a bit of jazz drifting on the breeze for ambiance. The atmosphere outside this morning is the perfect antidote for a stressful week.

Yesterday went well. It started out with dissapointment, I improved my APFT score, but not to the point that I would have liked. However, as the day progressed, things started to look up. The weather was beautiful, just like today's, so when the regiment formed up for the parade there was a magical air about it all. The parade went well. I didn't miss a word. Also, Sergeant Major Stoner is posting a paragraph from an essay of mine on the GMC website. The essay was about the effects the GMC core values have had on me (They are also the Army core values: Duty, Honor Country). I'll post a link as soon as it is up. Later in the evening, we had Ranger practice. It was a wicked smoke session including a water hose and some mud, but we finally earned our right to be called GMC Rangers. Ruzek said our black shirts should be in by Monday. After our little PT session, we went inside and watched Gladiator and ate pizza. I retired to my room for the evening, and drifted off peacefully after a happy call from Meredith. I know she had been anticipating her Mom's arrival very intensely. Hearing her having such a great time made me fell content, and I slept deep and dreamlessly.

Today is the groundbreaking ceremony for the new barracks, and I'm the only cadet besides the Regimental Commander who has been invited to attend. I'm expected to talk to reporters about how I feel about the construction of a new barracks. Sweet, we'll have A/C and internet.

Pictures from the GMC

GI Party!

My almost inspection ready rack.
My desk.
Crappy picture of our Class Bravo uniform
A typical Ranger practice uniform

In the Early Morning Rain...

In the early morning rain,
out the door time to train,
in the early morning rain,
out the door time to train...

See the Ranger on the hill,
one shot one kill,
see the Ranger on the hill,
one shot one kill...

Used to drive a Caddilac,
with all my homies in the back,
Used to drive a Caddilac,
with all my homies in the back...

Used to date a beauty queen,
now I got my M-16,
Used to date a beauty queen,
now I got my M-16...

I awoke this morning feeling refreshed. It rained all night last night, and a cool breeze was blowing through our window (we keep it open because we have no A/C). Apparently there was a thunderstorm last night, but I slept through it like a baby. The only time I awoke was when one of our ceiling tiles fell to the floor. I don't know what was up with that, because the things are kind of hard to dislodge, so I would be surprised if it was just a breeze responsible. Anyhow, I rolled off my bunk, strapped up, buckled up, and shuffled to the door. We jogged through the rain to the Military Science Department, where the rest of the Ranger Team was waiting. It started to rain harder. We grounded our rucks underneath an awning, and formed up in our normal running formation. Soon enough we were off and truckin'. The rain picked up some more, and started to get in my eyes. We picked up the pace to about a 7 minute mile. We must have looked crazy, a formation of 12 guys running through red lights with only shiny reflector belts on, in the dark, in the rain. We ran really far, ran back, and then ran back out really far again. Far and fast. Chris and Brett fell out, but the rest of us kept going. It was an intense experience. I always run at the front of the formation because it helps keep me motivated. I just think about all of the guys behind me, and how they would all have to run by me if I were to fall out. I maintained the pace. It's been awhile since I've felt this refreshed and energized, even if it is the kind of day only Meredith Mason could appreciate outside.

Time to Start Leading...

I was late for Ranger practice this morning. Needless to say I'm incredibly sore. My elbows are all skinned up from doing the high crawl through gravel, and my quads are about to fail from doing iron mikes for about 100 yards. However, they did inform me that I'm currently on the starting team. That was a little motivation to keep pushing through my little smoke session.

We've started wearing uniforms today. I haven't decided whether I like wearing mine or not. It is a bit large, so my little stick arms are conspicious. Maybe I'm being over critical.

Parade practice went great this morning. It's starting to cool off and the leaves should be changing soon. I'm sure that Milledgeville is gorgeous in the fall.

I had an APO meeting last night. We all got to dress in civilian clothes, eat pizza, and watch football.

I need to stay motivated with my school work. I'm not really having to apply myself this quarter, and I feel myself slipping back into old habits. I decided this morning that no matter how ate up the rest of this regiment is, I'm going to do things right. I'm going to look good in my uniform, and I'm going to keep my grades up. I'm going to do the right thing, even when everyone else is doing something else. I'm here to be trained to lead soldiers in the worlds finest army, it's about time I started leading.

Pictures...

I am now the proud owner of a digital camera. I got it from Wal-Mart for $60, because it was the cheapest one they had with a LCD screen to preview the pictures.

I used the flash while I was backlit for a cool effect.

The hallway on which I live.

The view from where I stand in formation each morning. The sun always rises between those two buildings, just as the National Colors are being lifted.

Never fall asleep while I'm bored and playing with a camera. Clint is still looking for his nose.