Five More

 C left for Afghanistan in December, the same time I made the bittersweet seven hundred mile trip back to my parents house for the duration of his deployment. With our Great Dane, Terrier Mix, my guitar, my father, and the bare minimum amount of clothes packed into my Jeep Patriot, I drove and counted the minutes that had passed since my husband had said goodbye. Now, I'm counting down months. One has passed, five more to go. With all the snow on the ground, it seems as if June will never arrive.
He called me this morning, as he does most mornings. What a beautiful start to my day, marking the end to yet another lonely night. I updated him on the weather and our dogs discovery of their love for snow. He replied with wishes of snow. Winter is the season we love most, but must spend it apart this year. Deployments always seem to be ordered at inconvenient times. But when is a deployment convenient? Never, I guess.
We talked for awhile about our plans for life after his return. This is the main topic of all our conversations these days. Buying him a truck and taking a road trip through the Rocky Mountains before we try for a baby, these are the things we aim to do. He starts to say he needs to take out the trash and do a few other things and I know it's time for him to say goodbye. The day has barely reached afternoon here but on his side of Earth it's midnight, the end of his shift. We exchange our comfortable, "love you, bye!" and the phone clicks. Then I continue counting. Five more.