False dawn

I've written how dark it is here, due to the lack of lighting, which is so knuckleheads can't target our living area. "Blacker than the inside of a cow." Not long ago I went outside around 2 AM to use the facilities, an ordeal in itself. To use the bathroom, we have to get dressed and put on a helmet (in case of a head banging incident in the sh*tter, I suppose), trudge about a football field across the deep loose gravel, and use the bathroom. Then back. Imagine if every time you wanted to use the restroom, you had to put on a helmet. You'll never look at a bathroom the same again. Fugitives from the headbanger ward.

During the last full moon, I got up for the ordeal, stepped outside, looked around, and thought someone had placed a spot light on the hill behind my CHU. Turns out it was the moon. Bright full moon, made brighter by the lack of lighting. The flame from the cracking plant was subdued that evening, because it normally competes with the moon for attention.

Tonight I went outside, headed home, and saw a couple of flares burning in the sky. Bright orange stars, slowly drifting in the wind. These were dropped by a jet flying overhead, and were illuminating our FOB for some reason. I had a book in my hand, and could read the text, though barely. The illum was at least as bright as the full moon. Both cast a shadow; a moon shadow, or an illum shadow.