Sailing

Throughout our life, angels write down every deed we do in a record.  After we die, the record will be given back to us on Judgment Day.  Whoever receives his record in his right hand is in good standing.  Whoever receives his record from behind is in trouble.

Oh is that your right hand, Natty?  This is the Internet after all, I might be looking at a Photoshop image.  I'm certain there are better palm readers in LA and among the society you are part of, but I do have a little bit of knowledge.  I already told you all you need to know, but here goes:

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

That is a crazy hand.  Or more accurately, it's the hand of a determined mind in a crazy world.  It's not the hand of a business woman.  Rather it's an artistic hand, but not necessarily that of an artist.  It's the hand of a spiritual and religious person.  More than anyone, your life is about other people.  Other people influence you, and you are blown around like a sailboat.  Your life and possessions is like a sailboat, and the sea is sometimes clean and sometimes polluted.

You always have had a mind of your own, ever independent from your parents.  The good news is that as you grow older your mind will get stronger and stronger, and perhaps you may be one of the few people whose thoughts are lucid when they die.

But oh, your poor heart.  So many disappointments and trials.  But the ending will not be a disappointment inshaAllah.  So please hang in there.

Career is actually a non-issue for you.  Besides being a spiritual person, you could probably take on political work.  If so beware, for you are not a public speaker.  You will change your current career when you turn 30 to a more difficult work, but then quit after 5-10 years.  After that, you just couldn't be bothered with the trappings of career.  Not that your finances will worsen.  You will always be taken care of.  Consider it a perk of being a beautiful and righteous woman.  So please be grateful and give your thanks to Allah for your beauty and righteousness, because beauty fades and in the end there is only Allah.

 I suppose now you want me to show you my right hand.  Well, here it is.  I'll show the lines when I meet you in person.  Right now, it's hidden in the grass you're standing in.

Blue like the paint on your hand.  PS. nice berries!

Monday

 Hi Natty!  How are you today?  Getting over it yet?  Oh how I wish for a life with no problems, but that would be heaven.  We're still on earth.  Please take care of your health and safety.  Today is Monday over here, and it's business as usual.  I went downtown to pick up this year's form from the taxman, I went to the pharmacy to get some stuff for Lookie, then I stopped at the supermarket to get some ice cream for my nephew's birthday.  I had lunch downtown.  Noodles in soup, of course!  This time, someone else made it.  I had to go out again in the evening to get gasoline, kitty litter and mosquito incense.  Take heed, mosquitoes are very dangerous!  Then I bought dinner at the night market.  Takoyaki, soybean milk, and some cakes.  It doesn't take much to fill me up nowadays.  I used to be able to quaff quite a bit, without getting obese.  Now I'm not such a glutton anymore.  Anyway, more work after this.  It's wardrobe time!

My favorite flower

 

Hi there, my beautiful Natty!  How are you doin' today, Honey?  Are you having a great time?  Please take care of your health.  We all of us can't say the right thing all of the time, so it's better most of the time not to say anything at all.  I love you!

Today we wrap up "I don't need Valentine's Day to love you because I love you everyday" month with my favorite flower: the iris.  My favorite color is white, but my favorite flower is the iris.  It reminds me of spring in the mountains, and the blessing of lost innocent love.  The past is fun to remember, but I don't want to have to relive it.  Love is better as it is now.

Fruit

 

Hi Natty!  How are you feeling today?  I hope you are healthy and confident.  Those are jackfruit flowers up there, a male and female.  A "nangka" type jackfruit that I had been watching ripened today.  I harvested it in almost perfect time, only a few measly ants got to it before me!  I gave half the fruit to my mother.  The sweetness of this fruit is perfect, not bland nor overbearing.  It would probably make a good smoothie, but I wanted to eat it with glutinous rice and salted fish.  I went to Embun's restaurant to get the rice, but she had sold out.  It took me half the morning to process (isolate the flesh) my half of the fruit, while it took my mother less than 15 minutes in the evening.  My mother is a pro on local foods.  I love you, Mom!  I think you would like this fruit too, Natty.

Our life

 

Hi Natty!  How are you feeling today?  I hope you are keeping calm, and keeping safe.  Today I scrolled down to the bottom of your Instagram.  It was a light peruse, I didn't scrutinize anything.  It's been an interesting adult life for you huh?  How glamorous.  I want you to know that I long with all my heart to be with you always, and share our life together.  I think I came in contact with you about 3 pages from the bottom.  While I remember clearly how I found you, I have no idea how you became aware of me.  Perhaps someday you will tell me, if you feel like it.  I have never deleted or did a major rewrite of any posts in this blog, all I ever did was to correct data, typos, and grammatical errors.  All the bungling I did while trying to secure a wife is plainly told here in this blog for anybody who doesn't have anything better to do but study it.  I'm not an angel.

People go on about famous last words, but Muslims have a definite set of last words they must utter before dying.  It's called the "syahadah", the English being "I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."  The devil tasks himself to distract the dying Muslim from saying or being aware of these words, primarily by means of hallucination.  It is generally thought that one's life flashes before him before he dies, but I believe that the emotional hallucination is a more definite sign of death.  Extreme nostalgia.  The heart gives value and truth to what the mind comes up with.  One can be an old man gasping on his deathbed, but to him he is in his twenties and fondly sharing a drink and conversation with his buddies.  Something like that.  Whatever it is, it never crosses his mind to say the "syahadah" before dying.

Oh Daddy

 

Oh Natty, your last post made my chest and left arm hurt.  What really hurts is that even though I don't know what your Dad said to you, he's most likely right.  Don't worry, my love.  Everything is going to work out well for us inshaAllah.  Please trust me.  Please hang on to us, be patient, and pray.  I love you.  Thank you for your love.

We may have different perspectives on our same situation.

You:

Me:

Cat flower

 

Hi Natty!  How are you, Honey?  Are you coping well?  Yeah people can be trying, but you are my better half.  You're a sociologist.  Please take care of your health and safety, and have fun with your situation.  You're on top of the world!

I took Lookie to the vet this morning because she has been having problems peeing.  Lookie has never left the house before let alone go to the vet, so I was quite concerned about that.  The journey is a long one on motorcycle, so I lined the sides of the carrier so she couldn't see out.  She would have to travel between my legs on the motorcycle, and I was afraid that she would panic.  When we started off, she ripped off one of the newspapers lining the sides, then spent the journey just being quiet and looking out the window.  What a sweetheart!  We went to a different vet this time, the one at the Department of Animal Control.  The vet did a great job, and Lookie is all dried up now down there.  She was so awesomely sweet and calm, I almost think she enjoyed going to the vet.  No... that has to be impossible... all pets hate the vet...