If you want to be befuddled, learn from April;
always teetering between hot and cold, dead and alive.
April is Ending but it's August I long for;

April was different because for some reason I was filled with longing. Everything reminded me of old times and It was kind of a nice but weird discovery for me as I realised most of my childhood is linked to some type of plant or tree. I grew up around trees and shrubs and the sight of them always brings a smile to my face as I remember the games we played with the buds of the tree with vermillion flowers and the Pride of Barbados that lined the windows of the rooms in the house I grew up in, or those Yellow trumpet like flowers which my grandma taught how to get a drop of nectar from, whose name I was too lazy to google at the time of this review. I still find myself missing the particular scent of those vermillion flowers which I now see every week on my way to work but I am too self-conscious to try and pick some for a little sweet memory trigger.

Eid was when it all started because Eid has changed from being excited to visit my grandparents and connect with my family, pictures with cousins, discussion and tea corners with the favorites and the overall excitement of being part of a family to staying home with no plans, grasping at straws for places to go and dreading visits because for some weird reason, you get more socially awkward during celebrations; That's how you begin to look for the past in the present and arrive in a constant state of nostalgia. I have never had an Eid as banal as this one, and I sincerely hope I never experience it again. The good thing that came out of a boring Eid was the rest. I shed every single fatigue and then some. I came out of Eid rested and happy albeit bare.

With me being in a floating state I managed to be very productive. This is the most productive I've been since 2024 started and I'm loving it. I was able to do some literature review for my masters thesis and decided on a stable direction while also putting in work for my seminar paper. I added a new tab to this blog called Dee's Reads, where I review all the books I read. It was really exciting doing this because I originally had it down for an end of Q2 deadline but I got it done so early. The only thing I'm struggling with is completing my Masters thesis which has taken some form of back burner. We organized an extension of the Women's day event for SCA minna (Ask Her Anything) this month too and it was a great success. We had a sizable turnout which is a win especially for a virtual event and our track record. I was so scared it was gonna be just us and the speakers. We plan on making it a quarterly thing too because it turned out good.

Are my Reviews getting longer? Maybe but I'm also getting more comfortable with this whole journaling stuff. If I'm able to have 6 streaks, I'll treat myself to something sweet because I deserve it. Speaking of something sweet, I am currently slowly reading this really sweet but sad book called Letters to Milena, It is a collection of letters from Franz Kafka to Milena and I'm taking my time to read it because that's a real person's feelings, his thoughts and a love story that I think never got a happy ending (I'll find out after I finish reading and doing some research. I want to feel all the feelings first without any barrier). It's also a very interesting read for quiet cloudy days as the last few days of April were. My favorite season of the year is starting and I'm already longing for afternoon rains.

I have nothing more to talk about (but at least it wasn't as boring as March I think 😅) this Translucent Veiled Month of Longing.