Combat climate

Deployments aside, in our combined 12 years' military life, neither Matt nor I have grown accustomed to evening walks or dozing off to a backdrop of intermittent spurts of gunfire.  However, we are now beginning to.  The firing ranges on other bases we've been stationed at have been beyond earshot of residential communities, however, while I don't know exactly where the range is here, it sounds like it is about 3 blocks north of us!  I imagine some sort of training exercise or deployment preparation must be going on, because we have been hearing gunfire pretty much nonstop from dusk 'til dawn.  Surprisingly, tonight is the first time the girls have noticed it.  I think they may have been attributing it to weather the past couple of nights, as thunder storms have also become a bit routine in our evening/overnight hours.

Our youngest mentioned the gunfire tonight during dinner, attributing it to airplanes soaring overhead.  The first couple of days here, both girls were so sensitive to the sounds of aircraft engines, but began acclimating to the noisier environment within days.  I remember two short years ago, we almost had to leave the Tinker AFB annual Air Show early because they were in a tizzy over the fighter jet sounds, and the in-ear earplugs did nothing for them.  However, on our way toward the exit, we stumbled across big insulated earmuff ones and they made all the difference in the world.

Anyway, as I was out walking Petunia this evening, I reflected on some of the oddities the girls may become accustomed to as the result of growing up in a military environment (such as intermittent/routine gunfire), and my oldest's "No Hunting" signs sprang to mind:

She drew this for the first time about a week ago, while sidewalk-chalking the bike path behind our house.  Curious, I asked her what is was and she explained: "No hunting at our new house" (top picture is a "No Gun" symbol, bottom picture is a house).  I asked her what gave her the idea to draw that and she stated, matter of factly: "That is the rule at our new house.  No hunting."

I left it at that, but two days later started to notice this:

The "No Concealed Weapons Allowed on this Installation" sign we pass by twice daily on our return trip from the girls preschool and kindergarten.  This kid picks up on everything!