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Notes From Iraq: Rain, Rain |
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Gregory Morris, 11/2/10 2:03:55 am |
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We got our first big rain storm of the season last night. Woke me up at about 2am. We live in little metal shipping containers, so the rain is particularly cacophonous (hah! triple word score!) I'm glad it rained though, because it is now rather cool and pleasant out. This is the first real humidity we've had since, oh, last April.
The downside to the rain here is the mud.
The "sand" in Iraq is actually a very fine particulate clay. It is usually very dry, and some soldiers refer to it as "moon dust". It gets in and on everything, and the slightest breeze will send it wafting into the air (and into your lungs. Fun!)
However, after a rain, that dirt turns into a very viscous clay-mud. Iraq could stop selling oil and start exporting this stuff as a multipurpose adhesive. When you walk through it, it doesn't just stick to your shoes. Layer after layer build up until you are about 5 inches taller.
It doesn't drain at all, so the water will just sit there until it evaporates, leaving behind hard jagged lumps of tire-tread-printed cement everywhere. About this time of year, they start bringing in truckloads of gravel to lay down on dirt roads and walkways. It is great for the first day or two, but the gravel ends up just sinking down into the mud and disappears entirely.
After a few days, there is just enough gravel in the mud mixture to stick to our truck tires, then fire off at high velocity in every direction as we drive down the road, leaving cracked windshields all over the base. |
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