Missing the Trees

I LOVE this picture. The is my dad and I working on a downed maple tree at the family tree farm. And yes, I know how to wield a chainsaw. Stihl saws are my favorites. This has nothing to do with fish or the middle east. I'm just a bit homesick right now, and I didn't get to visit the farm this summer. Almost in tears just thinking about my parents' house, stores back home, the tree farm and cheap fresh berries.

Well, today was my first day of Ramadan. The munchkins had an interesting time at school. Since the school day begins an hour later and ends an hour earlier during Ramadan, everything is rushed. The full compliment of subjects is still done, it is just compressed a bit for time. This allows students participating in the fast to be able to sleep in before school (after getting up at around 4am to eat and pray), and to go home and sleep until sundown. The school has prayer rooms set up and available to the students who are fasting.

After getting the munchkins from school, I needed to do a bit of grocery shopping. Well, we went to a grocery store inside a mall (most big grocery stores are in malls here). The food court was closed and roped off. Nobody was sitting in the cafes. Very surreal feeling. When we arrived at the grocery store, it was empty. By the time we went to check out, it was more crowded than a grocery store at 6pm the night before Thanksgiving in a major U.S. city. Incredible. There were more ladies wearing abayas and veils then I usually see. Many of the veiled ladies were even wearing long black gloves. When buying produce here, you have to have special store clerks weigh it and put a price/bar code on it before you can pay for it. The line at the produce section was so immense, I put all my produce back and said we would just eat frozen for a day or so. It still took about 25 minutes to move through the check-out line. I am planning on attempting grocery shopping tomorrow at around 12 noon. Hopefully, places will be empty. I don't mind large crowds, but this was amazing. Either that, or the husband may have to do shopping for me while I am at work. His schedule is a tad more flexible then mine. With no eating or drinking allowed in public during daylight hours, one could almost feel the collective tummy rumble. After sundown tonight, I need to find some Mexican food! Cheers.