Good Morning Sunshine?

The other day, someone was discussing their inability to breathe in the UAE. After researching the reasons why, she found out the UAE is the 4th worst country in the world for air pollution. OK, maybe pollution overall. So the lovely sunrise photo above is brought to you by the disgusting haze on the horizon toward one of the largest petroleum plants in the UAE. Each day the sun rises through the haze to the clear sky and sets before I can see it sink into the sea behind a thicker haze in the west. Beautiful photos indeed, but what is it doing to my body? Why do I not have the breathing issues that others here have?

A is for Apple

It is dark, and has been for what seems an eternity, but in reality, but a few hours. My inability to move from the couch to find the Halloween candy I hear whispering my name should attest to my lack of energy and pure exhaustion.
Tomorrow's agenda holds for me, a full day of work, but before I can go to work, I must:
Pack a suitcase for the weekend in Abu Dhabi
Print out all documents I must have notarized at the Embassy
Make sure I have all my ducks in a row and am ready to have all i's dotted and t's crossed.
Take out the trash
Water all plants
make sure all perishables are in the refrigerator or thrown away
set all electronics to charge so I will have something to entertain me while in transit

and then,
well then I can trek off to work to see what the day holds for me.

After work, I must make sure all is in the car that needs to go, fill up the gas tank, buy some water and snacks for the road.
Then the trek to take care of business I am not in the least excited about will ensue.
30 minutes to buy a ferry ticket, get the car in the queue (line for my American friends) and board the ferry. Once it begins to churn through the water, I will happily see the other side and drive away from the port a mere 90 minutes later.
Whew, only 2 and a half hours before I arrive in Abu Dhabi. Now all that has to be done is drive 140 km/h weaving out of trucks driving almost half that and locals driving much faster than I am, and want me out of their way.
All so I can go to the Embassy to get a piece of paper signed and notarized and mailed to the US within the next 24 hours.

Now if I were living elsewhere, the overnight bag just to get something notarized, or grocery shop, or attend a brunch with friends would not be necessary. But I am not, I am living on Delma Island, where you have to travel a long distance to go anywhere.

Of course, this is the regular MO for every trip to Abu Dhabi, and yes, I will be doing other things, but not because I would have anyway, (I wouldn't have been traveling this weekend) but because I am already there.

That is what happens when my mother implanted her voice in my head and all I can hear is what she wanted me to do rather than what I want to do. Yes, she can control me from the grave.

Perhaps now my friends, you will understand where the part of me that wants things a certain way comes from... the apple sitting right next to the tree.... although I am trying to roll away from it as much as I can.

Just Another Day at the Beach

There's a Fire in My Heart

Beauty in every direction

Water, waves, and sun

Moon smiling late at night

Drift wood 

ready for the heat

Rock walls up 

for protection

The foundation laid with care 

and yet, 

Not a spark in sight.  

Saving for a Rainy Day

 Early this morning I woke thinking it was much earlier than I usually wake up, as the room was not yet bright and shiny like a new penny. It was dull but still light.... wait, what is this? A cloudy day. Oh what a lucky girl am I, for a cloudy day happens less than the number of fingers on one hand. 

Even when it does rain, it is usually at night or early in the morning and today, it was just that. Or so it appeared when I went out to the car to drive to the ADNOC (read as corner store, 7-11 etc). The windshield was my only clue as there were visible remnants of where droplets landed. You see, when it does rain, it is so dry here that you cannot tell shortly afterwards there was any rain at all. 

While driving I found my gaze moving upwards to the billowing clouds and one side of the island appeared dark and foreboding. Hmmm, after dropping my milk by the apt. and picking up my camera, a short trek to the other side where in the distance I could see a rain shower. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but as I walked along looking around at the sky for cool clouds and the ground at the black sand that has accumulated I heard faint rumblings, and they were not coming from my stomach. 

It is amazing how very insignificant (at times in your life) things in life can make you so happy. 

A cloudy morning for sleeping in (read a book for 2 hours in bed after I woke up) 

Billowing clouds of white, gray, blue and everything in between. 

Mica in the sand appearing blue instead of shiny black as it reflected the sky instead of the sunlight. 

A bagful of sand to take home.

Thunder, fresh air, a little lightning. 

It was a wondrous morning. 

What do you see in the last picture? 

I see Santa Claus. 

Happy Halloween

Knives, fire, candy and alternate identities, what holiday could be any better? Come to think of it, Christmas has all of those things as well, except perhaps knives. However, Halloween is my favorite and has been for some time.
When recalling childhood holiday celebrations, festivities such as riding bikes to follow my brothers and friends to a house where the bellows of an elephant are heard from a backyard. My mother making popcorn balls to give out and knowing that cannot be done any more without serving them only to people you know, as they will be thrown away for fear of something "dangerous" included. Festivals including Three Stooges haunted house films on a projector with metal folding chairs, trick or treating in costumes my mother made or bought for me... the few times you would catch me in a dress as a child.
The memories are much more vivid than any Christmas. This year was not without it's excitement, unfortunately, it occurred before the actual day and was not the kind of fun I enjoy with people who pose as friends. They finally took their masks off, or maybe I finally saw them for what they actually are.
Didn't stop me from carving a pumpkin. Actually found one in the local souk (veggie stand) that looked like a "real" one. Then while in the big city picked up some more familiar items to decorate my table and give the flat (apt.) a true holiday feeling. Plus I have the seeds to plant for more real pumpkins that aren't genetically engineered.
In the spirit of the zombie apocalypse, my carving is a hybrid, a vampire zombie. Of course, I had visions of how I will decorate when I am back in my hometown in my own home on Halloween with friends and family, but that is what Pinterest is for ... right?
Enjoy all your holidays, especially your favorite one, no matter where you are. Even if you have to fake it til you make it.