This is a continuation of the journal I kept while on Hajj, from Oct. 30- Nov. 20th. Any remarks in parentheses are current comments. The day of Arafat IS the day of Hajj. Without staying in the plain of Arafat until sunset, you have not done Hajj, it’s that important! The name Arafat seems to […]

This is a continuation of the journal I kept while on Hajj. I’ve tried to transcribe the thoughts I wrote eactly as written. Any current interjections are in parantheses.  (The reason why I’m such a stickler in this regard is because I heard that L.M. Montgomery altered her journals after she wrote them, taking out […]

This is the third post of my Hajj journal. I’ve tried to inscribe it exactly as I wrote it. Any current thoughts are in parantheses. Nov. 7 – 10, 2010 We arrived in Medina after a gruelling journey. When I came for umrah with my parents two years ago, going from Mecca to Medina was a quick […]

This is a continuation of the journal I kept while on Hajj from Oct. 30th to Nov. 20th. I’ve tried to keep it as true to what I wrote as possible with only minor editing. Any interjections from the present are in parentheses. Nov. 6th, 2010 Yesterday I did something I’m quite ashamed of. Maybe it […]

And still recuperating! And still adjusting to the fantastic news that on Nov. 7th, not only did Big Red Lollipop receive a glowing review from the New York Times, but it was also named one of the top ten picture books of the year! In addition to that it made Kirkus’s top 100 books of […]

Last week my husband ordered the Al Jazeera English channel from our cable provider and I must say wow! This is not a commercial for Al Jazeera, but rather a lament at what CNN has become and a further lament to the lack of depth in most North American media. When CNN is still dithering […]

I am just so filled with happiness right now, and a touch of nostalgia, ironically. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that just before Ramadan comes about, there is a slight feeling of trepidation. It is a trial, a challenge, to fast every day from dawn to dusk for a lunar month. And […]

Sometimes I would wonder why I was ‘friends’ with a pig farmer. Actually the bottom fell out of the hog market a while back and Brent Olson a down-to-earth-no-nonsense-farmer-turned-writer from Minnesota turned instead to crop farming. I’ve never had the pleasure of actually meeting him, but then these days that doesn’t seem to be a […]

I don’t think any Muslim pays much attention to the moon except in Ramadan. In the Quran it says that God created the moon and its phases to tell the passage of time, and last night, when coming out of the masjid after completing the taraweeh prayers, I saw that half the moon was visible, glowing in the clear […]

When Ramadan first begins, the month stretches before you, looking endless, and yet here we are already 2/15’s of it has past. It goes so fast! And it reminds me of an Afghan folktale. There was a good king who ruled with kindness and wisdom, and his people wanted to get together to reward him […]