I thought it was thunder

I thought it was thunder when I woke up this morning, but a quick glance around the blind showed blue sky and no wind.  It was too regular a sound to be thunder anyway.

It was only this afternoon that I finally caught on. The military are out playing with the tanks again today.  They're firing practice rounds somewhere near enough that we can both hear and feel the discharge. As loud as they are at the house, and we must be some kilometers distant, I can't imagine the sound close up.  My other thought is how hot it must be today on the firing range in boots, fatigues, and a helmet. I don't imagine tanks have air conditioning, but I may be wrong.

Turkey has compulsory military service for male citizens between twenty and forty one according to Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_Turkey There is much discussion among the young men that Cam works with about how best to postpone their service.  Taking vocational training or university education serves to not only delay service but also to shorten the length of time required. 

We regularly see military vehicles moving up and down the highway that runs the length of the peninsula. There is some sort of military base in many of the old world villages. There is a larger base in Gelibolu and there are armed soldiers on the street everyday.  There is sometimes a soldier with an automatic rifle on sentry duty outside one of the banks.  We suppose he is there on the day that the soldiers are paid, but we haven't stopped to inquire!