Letter to Erin 20160210

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

Hello, my love.  How are you feeling, beautiful girl?  Are you keeping busy as usual?  There's nothing out of the ordinary going on here today.  My waking and sleeping hours have been strange lately, and I trying to take my time.  As usual.  I went to the main market downtown right after dawn prayer.  I have a craving for fried flat noodles with cockles.  I bought almost a kilo of pre-cooked cockles.  No flavor whatsoever: all the flavor had been cooked out for public consumption, so I'm going to have to put flavor back somehow.  So I didn't eat that today.  I grilled a fish instead.  I grilled the scad I bought yesterday.  I had a lot of leftover "sambal" (red hot chilli pepper condiment) which I wanted to use up, so I stuffed the fish with sliced tomatoes and drowned it with "sambal".  Awesome.  Alhamdulillah.

I spent the evening with my chainsaw.  I had to sharpen the chain, which is a tedious task filing the blades one by one.  Then I cut down some stumps by the side of the street which were in the way of my weed whacker.  There was also an dead tree leaning towards the old house which my Mom had been bugging me to cut down.  Fascinating.  The dead tree was being held up by dead vines, so when I cut through the tree, it wouldn't fall.  So I threw a cable around it and pulled it down.  Macho work, huh?  Army ants crawled up my pants and bit my balls while I was trying to cut the tree.  I'm sure you will never have that problem.  Having ants bite your balls with a 2 ton tree looming over your head.  My chainsaw was smokin' hot!

Praise be to Allah that you are at the top of your game.  I don't want you to overwork!  Please choose your work wisely, and take your time.  Slow down your stride, and relax your heart.  Please pray.  I want you to know that you are loved.  I love you, and I need you.

Qur'an 20160210

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

189.  They ask you concerning the new moons.  Say, "They are but signs to mark fixed periods of time in men and for the Hajj."  It is no virtue if you enter your houses from the back: it is virtue if you fear God.  Enter houses through the proper doors, and fear Allah, that you may prosper.

(The Heifer 2:189)
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They are but signs to mark fixed periods of time in men and for the Hajj.