I climbed four of five guard towers at Depot 1 today and took pics. Click here to see them.

Mr. Big Hands

I finally got a picture of Mr. Big Hands. He’s one of our guards at Depot 1. His real name is Abdullah and he’s originally from Salang, Afghanistan. We call him Mr. Big Hands for obvious reasons. He’s the biggest Afghan I’ve ever seen.

Look at his features. I suspect there’s some Cossack blood running through those veins. Remember the Soviet Union occupied this country from 1978 to 1989, right about the time Abdullah was born. Hmm…

I sent some pottery made in Istalif to Julie for her birthday. When I told her the story about Istalif, she researched it on the internet. During her search, on one webpage there was a picture of a dog on a roof. I told her that wasn’t so uncommon here, the dogs are a little wild, not really kept and pampered as pets, and are more cat-like than we’re used to. Even Strawberry, with her crippled leg, often climbs HESCO barriers over six feet tall. About twice a week, she’s up on the barriers to meet us in the morning. This morning, as we rounded the turn to the depot entrance, she woke up, stretched, and sat pretty while surveying her domain. A few more pics are here.