...(or approximately that) I was up in Iowa freezing my southern ass off, clad in an orange hat (or on occassion the red staff beanie I pinched from Storm Center) and busting my ass for Howard Dean. Representing the first (yes, first, bitches!) Dean group blog on the net, Dean Nation, I'd travelled to Iowa to give our readers a view from the ground as I navigated my way through the week leading up to the caucus.  I learned a lot about myself during that trip and I also learned a lot about how the caucuses work.  That experience led me to stay largely neutral this time around - unwilling to firmly committ to a candidate for fear of having my heart broken in Iowa again.

But today, although I have tried to temper my emotions, i am finding that I'm experiencing a strong sense of nostalgia when reading the diaries of our Kossack footsoldiers. It's caused me to reflect on the lessons we learned as well as the emotional effect that loss had on many of us.

(apologies in advance: this is going to be one loooong diary)