#MahsaAmini

I'm writing for the thousands of people, mostly women, who get beaten, raped, and murdered every single day by the savages who call themselves the morality police, a branch of the corrupt government police supporting those who invaded Iran nearly forty-four years ago and have reigned over the country the last forty-three years.

Mahsa Amini was just one of these girls. This twenty-two-year-old had come to Tehran, the capital of Iran, with her family, to visit the city. The morality police arrested her and told her family she would be released after a re-education. She died in the hospital because of her injuries less than three days later.

In Iran, every single day...

women get brutally beaten for not covering their hair properly or for wearing makeup, or clothes the morality police deems inappropriate, or nail polish, or even a smile; 

gay men get hanged; 

anyone who speaks up against anyone in the government gets sent to prison and no one ever sees them again;

lawyers who defend anyone who has been wronged by anyone with ties to the corrupt government get arrested;

any person who expresses their thoughts in any way gets taken away and killed;

...

These things happen in Iran every single day. 

Mahsa Amini is a symbol. Her death on September 16 sparked a revolution in Iran... for life, for women, for freedom. And more people are dying. This time, people may not back down until they take back their country from these murderers. Thousands of people all over the world have been protesting against this corrupt regime, supporting those who are fighting inside the country.

So... Mahsa Amini... Say her name. It's not about one girl you or I don't personally know. It's about all the women in Iran. The women in Iran are strong. For forty-three years, they have quietly resisted. Today, they're done being quiet. 

#MahsaAmini

Book Review: Get Thee to a Bakery

I finished reading Get Thee to a Bakery by Rick Bailey. I enjoyed this collection of anecdotes, many of which I found relatable. What's not to like? Music, food, words, ..., and life in general. I liked Bailey's writing: simple and beautiful. I recommend this inspiring book with five stars and look forward to reading more from this author.

A Strange Month

August turned out to be a strange month for me. Things were going well the first few days of the month: My classes at Indiana University ended well, my car recovered from surgery, and I felt excited about my return home. 

I knew a lot of work was waiting for me at home: I needed to clean everything because I had activated three bug bomb foggers right before leaving, the sunroom still needed to be built, the frame of the old cabin still had to be removed, and I wanted to paint the floor of the cabin. All this was physical work, though, and I looked forward to completing all these tasks. 

I arrived home late afternoon on Sunday, August 7, to a dead plant on the porch. I had left my jasmine outside so that my neighbor could water it. There were two jugs containing questionable liquids next to it. I smelled them: One was obviously bleach and the other I couldn't tell. My neighbor said it was Miracle Grow. I asked why there was bleach near my plant and he said he didn't know. 

Inside, I scrubbed a small area of the floor near the door, where I made a temporary bed for the dogs and myself to rest that evening until I could work on cleaning the rest of the cabin in the morning. 

The next morning, I started cleaning and unloading the car at the same time, and since I moved things around to clean under them, I began to paint the floor, little by little, waiting for one part to dry before moving things back and painting the section next to it. With high temperatures outside, I didn't paint too much because I didn't want the smell of paint to bother us. The dogs and I went for short walks, and I even let them stay cool in the car with the air conditioner and music on while I applied a second coat of paint.

It took two days for the bedroom to be ready, and we could finally sleep comfortably in our beds. I continued to close off small sections of the floor and paint them. The dogs and I continued to go out for fresh air.

As I went in and out of the cabin, I noticed the large windows I had left leaning against my small shed were both broken. It looked like someone had just kicked them really hard. I hoped whichever one of my neighbors had done this felt better now. I would have to buy new windows for the sunroom. 

I decided to not pay attention to the negative stuff and go online to chat with someone I considered a trusted friend, just to remind myself that I can focus on good things when something bad happens. This trusted friend sent me pictures she had taken of me after I had specifically asked her not to take my picture. This upset me much more than seeing the broken windows had. Maybe she thought she was being funny, or maybe she did it to hurt my feelings... Whatever her intentions were, I felt betrayed. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that no matter how much I loved her, I could no longer be myself around this person. 

As I continued to clean the cabin, I noticed other things that had gone wrong during my absence. To make things worse, some mail I was expecting never arrived, a few of my book reviews were deleted, new people I met online deceived me with their lies, my friend's sister died, my laptop completely stopped working, and I found out I have several new health issues. 

I am still trying to find the lesson, or lessons, I am supposed to learn from these incidents that occurred one after the other in one month. I'm grateful to be here, to have my dogs by my side, to have a shelter, and to be able to manage. I hope September will be kinder.