Letter to Julia 20111212

Hi Julia. Are you hanging in there, my love? Of course I think of you all the time, and I pray you are doing well. I have been spending much time in the yard. Remember I told you that my little house is right next door to my grandfather's house? Well, the house and the compound has been overgrown with vegetation, and looks like a miniature jungle. I've been clearing the area out. It's an obvious hazard to the kids and people going to and fro on the road to the local elementary school, and it's right next to my house, so I certainly get the creeps having to look at that eeire old house covered and surrounded with vines and gloomy trees. It's a slow process, because I'm cautious, lazy, and can only work when it's cool enough to work, namely the two hours before sunset right after the Asr prayer. Being slow is for the best though. The compound is crawling with monitor lizards and snakes. Big snakes too about 2 1/2 meters long, most likely cobras, but I'm not sure because they always run when they sense me, and therefore not in a fighting mood. InsyaAllah.