So this too will probably be a running theme throughout the Blog, some of the creature comforts I miss from home. But this is not going to be about what I don’t have, or at least I hope it doesn’t turn into that but rather, "you don’t really miss it until it is not there" kind of thing. I already have several things I could write about here, things that I have taken for granted and now that I don’t have them I miss them. I will probably write about them later, oh who am I kidding I’m sure I will. But today it is about a window. I miss having a window!
This has become apparent to me at many different times in my couple weeks here, how much I have taken having windows for granted. See, you have to understand that here building material is at a premium, there aren’t luxuries and they are created for style but rather function. I currently live in one of the newer, nicer buildings and there are still very few windows in that, and my room, because it is an inside room, does not have a window. If you are lucky enough to have a window in your office or your room it is not the type of window you would expect to see in an office building it is small and does not open, at least not the ones here. That being said, I don’t want people to think that there is no place on base that has windows, that is simply not true. If the building was preexisting, a structure that we were able to salvage and use when we created the base, then there are windows, they are just a bit dingy and unclear. As I stated before a lot of the buildings have a “window” that light can come through but it is not a real window you can see out of or get fresh air from (which fresh air is a different post all together). There have been several times that I have realized how much I miss a window, getting up in the morning for one thing.
When you live in a box, with four walls around you, it gets pretty dark when you turn out the lights. I liken my room to a photo dark room, and the thing is you can really loose track of time. I know this will shock some people (Uncle Doug and Aunt Alexis) but I am not really a morning person, well at least not anymore, I need time to get up and get moving and I could probably lay in bed most of the morning if I was allowed. But, if the sun is shinning through the window then I want to get up and start my day, I want to be up and see the sun. I liken it to a rainy day when all you want to do is lay in bed under the covers and watch movies or read a book. Without a window I have found that is what I want to do most mornings. I wake up and can’t tell what time it is, because it is just as dark at midnight as it is at noon. But also I realized how often I look out the window, or at least try to look out the window on a given day. To see if people are walking past or what the weather is like and I can’t do that in the mornings. Makes me miss that.
The next thing I miss about not having a window is the air, last night I was coming back from the gym and I walked into my room and felt kind of suffocated, I had just been working out and the air is thin up here anyway, and then on top of that I walked into a room with no real air flow I felt suffocated. So I ended up walking outside and sitting on the steps for a little while. Just to kind of get some outside air.
Last night at the gym they had been doing some work in one of the rooms (repainting or repairing something) and they had used some highly potent chemical so after a half hour of running I couldn’t take it anymore. That also played into just needing to not feel trapped or suffocated. As I was walking back to my room I realized that a window makes things not seem as small and even if it is closed I feel like I have a connection to something outside. So I miss windows for that reason too.
Like I said earlier I don’t want this to be a woe is me post about what I don’t have, I am lucky, I have running water in my building I have a building and not a tent with 30 others guys, or gals, in it. I can’t complain it is just something that I used to take for granted and I wanted to write about that.
So today when you look out your window or tomorrow morning when you wake up and can see the sun, think of a Soldier, or the person, who can’t do that and doesn’t have that and remember how lucky you are it is the small things in life that make it so wonderful.
I am only a couple weeks in but I already know how thankful I am for this opportunity. And I am still honored to serve even without a window in my room. Who am I to complain about not having a window, some people go a year without having any privacy or alone time.
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