Letter to Julia 20121229

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

Hello there, my beautiful young Julia.  How are you feeling?  I pray you are feeling healthy and confident.  It's almost the new year, and I assume you are very busy.  I have been clearing out the property where my grandfather's old house still stands.  It's a long cry from what it looked like 4 years ago.  Back then, the land was overgrown with scrub, vines, and thorns, but I managed to get it to the point where it's actually a pleasure to stroll around.  Today, I worked on dismantling a tree that was hanging over the old house.  It was a big tree, and it had a companion tree growing alongside it.  This companion kept the old tree upright after I had hacked away the trunk with my axe, so I had to pull it down with a steel cable.  Now it is still being held up by part of the roof, so I'm taking it apart bit by bit.  Good thing most of the weight is on the ground now.  Chopping down trees is great exercise. You should try it sometime.