Before I Sleep

Two things I badly need to do before I sleep, to warm my icy back, and secondly the frigid toes on my feet. I wonder at why my feet change to frozen from a normal state. Why do they go ice- cold? There is no feeling of cold, but the minute I slip into bed my feet won’t get warm. They turn magically into ice bricks. Friends with solution say, “Wear socks”. Socks in bed makes me feel claustrophobic, so no socks in bed for me.

I keep on turning in bed, swishing my feet to generate warm air in the tundra like confines of my bed. Sometime later they start to thaw out to help me in getting my elusive sleep. One reason I know is that my room becomes arctic in summer is due to Son keeping the thermostat at low temperature.

For my back I keep a pillow — actually not one, but two. The pillows get warm with my back, and in turn warm my cold prone spinal cord. At night I turn between the two pillows. I wonder about my back too as to why it feels more cold there? I have not found an answer yet.

Last night when I was having my usual night walk, I could feel the pinpricks of cold on my back. I kept muttering to myself, “It’s cold”, while a warm wind blew, and people around me were wearing shorts, showing bare legs, and arms. A few minutes of brisk walking chased away the feeling of cold, I straightened my hunchback stance, and breathed a sigh of relief.

I hope not, but someday I may turn into a freak by strapping a pillow to my back to get away from the cold signals my nerves tend to give.

Simmer

Note: I know the meaning of simmer, but I didn’t want to write about food.

I galanced into Son’s room. He wasn’t there. My left shoulder had me simmering in pain since I got up in the morning. The pain radiated towards the left side of my neck. It had probably dislocated again. I dread picking up the milk, and orange juice cartons. They are too heavy for me, and prudence demands I shouldn’t pick them to put them in the fridge,  but Son tends to leave them on the kitchen counter.

I have noticed that people who never had a problem like mine tend to disbelieve me. I gather that from their expressions. Naturally I can’t go around carrying a disclaimer that whatever I’m saying is nothing but the truth, and I’m having a dreadful pain. Ironically these same people can cause a huge ruckus if something similar, or not happens to them.

I looked into Son’s room, and seeing he wasn’t there, I occupied his chair. I raised myself from the seat on my arms. The reason I needed his chair was (the chair with my desk is without arms), to elevate my shoulders in an an attempt to bring my left arm into its’ socket. The pain went numb, and I felt blessed relief.

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DAILY PROMPT

Simmer

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Recite

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Yesterday I made a dish of bitter gourds. I prepared minced chicken meat, and left the bitter gourds on boil after scraping the outer skin from the outside, and removing the seeds and white pith from the inside from each one. Although they were on low heat, the water in the pot dried, and they were slightly burnt by the time I came back from reciting my evening prayer. 

I was having the bitter gourd dish after a lapse of nearly three years. Son doesn’t like it, and I normally cook what he likes to eat. He had left at 3pm to catch a plane for San Antonio. Poor thing! His flight was delayed. At nine I received a text message that he was finally sitting in the plane. Another message came when he landed there. I was glad for his sake that he would be able to take some much needed rest before facing another grueling day on Saturday.

I was dismayed at the turn the bitter gourds had taken. I cut the burnt sides, chopped the remnants, and added them to the minced chicken. It was simply delicious!

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DAILY PROMPT

Recite

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Dormant

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From M1 (granddaughter) I got the recipe for Guacamole.  I couldn’t get enough of it, once I knew how to make it. It became my staple diet, although Son doesn’t share the same feelings. Son’s favorite thing is meat. If there is no meat, vegetables are considered eating grass. 

I wanted to grow an Avocado. I live in an apartment. The only place to grow it was my small balcony. I put one stone in a cup, covered it with water, and faithfully watched it for months thinking eventually roots would occur. It was dormant, no roots came out despite my hoping. The darn things weren’t willing to appear. After a long wait — I had almost given up, a speck of something showed –aha finally a root. It grew at a snail’s pace testing my limits for patience.

The date for my yearly tramp to home country was fast approaching. As the flight date loomed ahead, I instructed Son to look after my baby in a cup. I conveniently forgot that Son was joining me after a month’s delay.

When we came back the first thing I looked for was my experiment. Alas the water, and the stone, both looked mouldy. I threw away the lot in a dumpster.

2nd beginning:

After a while, I again yearned to grow the beastly thing. I stuck a stone in the pot growing mint leaves. I was leaving for Hartford. I asked Son to water the two pots outside regularly. Son is a stickler for forgetfulness. The occasional rain sustained the mint, and jasmine. 

Lo and behold when I stepped out on the balcony the first morning I was back,  a welcome sign was the growing Avocado plant amidst the mint leaves.

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DAILY PROMPT

Dormant

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Tailor

One can’t go, and ask a complete stranger from where did she get the shirt she is wearing? Sometimes I do muster up my courage, and overcome my nerveousness to ask the aforementioned question. Often I get a reply which doesn’t really answers my query, and I get disappointed.

I need shirts to wear with pants, and jeans, which are hundred percent cotton, shouldn’t show cleavage, fully cover arms, and cover decently front, and behind. Shirts like that doesn’t exist, or maybe I’m unable to find them. If they are lengthy enough, arms and cleavage are on display, or they are minuscule not covering anything.

In search for shirts, I signed up for sewing letters which offer free patterns. I haven’t been lucky in that respect either, except for getting inundated with unwanted emails. I have to daily find time to delete them, otherwise they keep clogging my inbox.

On my last trip to home country, my tailor made a mess of my clothes worn there. When an occasion arises to wear a shalwar, qameez ensemble, I find myself with clothes badly sewed. Where to find a good tailor? It has become a dilemma.

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DAILY PROMPT

Tailor

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Relieved

I can’t describe in words the feelings of utter relief I experienced on a momentous day in my life. Coming back to Texas, I put off for as long as possible to get a driving license. I had my home country’s license but the ninety days period soon got over whereas I needed a Texas license. Friends asked me, “Have you taken your written test?” I would say no. The reason was the it was the driving test which I was dreading. There is a time limit where one has to appear after doing the written one.

Son drove me mad by parallel parking his way. Believe me it meant I couldn’t possibly pass the test, cause each and every time I did it, I failed miserably. The first day he took me to practice, it was the nearby mosque. He left me to offer his Salah leaving me alone. My arms ached where as I did the wrestling with the steering wheel. Despite that I was miles away from the curb as I parallel parked.

When Son would say let’s go parallel park, my heart would plummet down to my shoes. I was convinced I was a dummy of the top order. There was no way I was going to pass. 

I confessed to my examiner that I couldn’t possibly pass. She asked me to come an hour earlier before the test so that a driving instructor would teach me how to parallel park. He taught me in a few minutes the correct way to do it, whereas the memory of those two weeks practicing would always be a nightmare.

I was relieved the day I passed my driving test, and finally got my Texas DL.

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DAILY PROMPT

Relieved

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Bottle

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I had bought the bottles from a second hand shop in the local market. The wily shopkeeper, seeing an inexperienced young person excited at finding what she was looking for, charged me more than what the bottles were worth. Anyway who wanted old bottles? A person like me only. They were lovely bottles in various shapes, and sizes. I needed them for my money plants. I had one in the kitchen, and the others found their way to the bathrooms. I would change the water periodically. 

When the roots became unsightly, or the bottles started having build up of water marks, I would clean the bottles first, then put in a new one, cut from the money plants in the verandah. There is a time and place for everything. Gradually I gave up keeping the bottled plants. It had become added work for me.

I tried my hand at growing a green wonderland in a bottle, after reading about it.  I didn’t had the requisite tools, or whatever, it wasn’t a success. The bottle was murky with the soil I had put in. I didn’t even had the proper plants. The ones I had pushed in withered in no time. Disgusted  with the effort, I threw the bottle, and all in the dustbin. 

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DAILY PROMPT

Bottle

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Apprentice

Apprentice means a learner. At the moment I’m learning how to cut my hair by watching YouTube videos. I had a bad hair experience about three months ago. I looked awful. I kept my hair covered even when there was no one at home to look at me. I looked a fright. Daughter got fed up with my wishing I had never gone into that shop. 

That got me thinking why not do it myself? It’s difficult, specially cutting hair at the back. Besides I don’t have mirrors at the side, or back. The first time I did it carefully. It wasn’t perfect, but after a week it started looking better. 

Day before yesterday, I had another go. It didn’t end well, since I was in a hurry to come out of the bathroom. I share a bathroom with grandsons, and they were with us for a two day period. The back of my head looks kind of bizarre. 

I’m hoping with a color session my hair may look better, or maybe in a week’s time hair growth will cover up the flaw in cutting. Wishful thinking that’s what I’m doing at the moment.

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DAILY PROMPT

Apprentice

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Yarn

When I first learnt to crochet, I crocheted a lot of things –tea cosies (galore), placemats, coasters, pot holders, sweaters, ponchos, shawls, mittens, caps, booties and soft toys for my children. 

I collected yarns for my projects.  I couldn’t resist them. Many are still there in the huge trunk upstairs. While downsizing in 2012, the year my husband died, I didn’t have the heart to  throw them away. Someday (I feel the day won’t ever come) I may use them.

Or maybe on day my children would empty the trunk (once I’m gone), and throw them away.

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Daily Prompt

Yarn

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My Purple Dress

The one I am writing about, I  haven’t got it with me here. It lies in a suitcase in Peshawar. This time when I was there, I wanted to search for it , but all the boxes, and suitcases are upstairs in the attic. Short of climbing the wooden stairway, I couldn’t get it. Another thing was, most of the time I forgot to go get it.

I didn’t have time on my side. Whenever I thought about it, I would be busy. I would tell myself I am in a hurry right now, I will look for it in the evening–  in the morning, and so on. It kept getting postponed. Mornings — I was short on time, and in the evenings I would be plain tired. The only thing appealing was getting to bed, and going to sleep.

I had to conquer two things. First thing was to climb the stairway, then secondly battle the layers of dust which had accumulated in the attic. In a second the hands would get grimy beyond recognition. Whose hands are they? Certainly not mine. But the evidence would stare me in the face. They were mine, attached to my body.

I would climb down to wash my hands. Meanwhile if a phone was ringing, or someone was banging at the outside door, it would get my attention. I would forget about lights on in the attic adding to the electricity bill. Once I forgot they could burn to eternity. I only remembered on my next voyage to the heaven above, and would gave a thump to my head, telling myself accusingly  you forgot. 

Maybe I retrieve it on my next trip to hometown, and wear it for the summer in 2018.

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DAILY PROMPT

Purple

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