Armadillos in Missouri

Some days carry surprises....like finding out that armadillos live in Missouri. Yes, you did hear me correctly. Armadillos live in Missouri (you know, those creatures that look like possums decked out in body armour). My surprises happened yesterday.

I really try to go shopping in the mornings or around lunch time. It just works. Tuesday mornings are the weekly sweet spot. No graduations, no weekend craziness, no major surprises in general.....um yeah....about that....I drove off base on Tuesday morning and everything seemed normal until I got to the gate area. There was a line to get into base that stretched back out onto the road for a little ways. I have never seen this but thought that there may have been an accident or some other incident that caused the back up. No worries, I would just take time at Walmart and everything should be better when I got back.....nope....

While at Walmart I got a hint of the surprises that would come. In the process of shopping I was reminded that I had ventured out on the first of the month (AKA Pay Day). You just don't go out unless necessary on the first or the fifteenth. I thought that just maybe I saw a rush of people trying to go to the commissary. Oh, if it had only been that easy.

A normal ride home takes 7-10 minutes absolutely tops. That is if you hit every light and it is super long. It took my about 90 minutes to get in the gate. The line was much longer when I drove up and it continued to lengthen as we sat there. What caused the back up? Annual exercises. This means that the base practices security procedures at our different alert levels. I may not have appreciated 90 minutes in a long line but I so appreciate that our security is taken seriously to the point that those in charges are willing to hear the complaints to accomplish those goals.

Now, you may be wondering what in the world do armadillos have to do with annual exercises? For weeks I have been seeing these bloated creatures along the highway but couldn't quite figure out what they were. Driving very very slowly allows one time to figure those things out. I was shocked to see that the little bloated creature was indeed an armadillo. I have to confess, I thought they lived (only) in a totally different part of the country.....like Texas or the like. I have been proved wrong. :)