So, I turned fifty this year

My dear friends and readers,

It's been a while since I've been here. My excuse? My garden and the fact that it's spring time in Doha.

Spring is very, very special here. The fact that summer arrives suddenly and brutally to these parts and stays for a very, very long time has something to do with my addiction for the outdoors in the months of January, February and March.

As always, I'm so absorbed in the tilling and toiling and potting and repotting that the arrival of the A to Z blogging challenge catches me unaware, unprepared and unable to figure out how in the world will I manage to write 26 decent posts worth your time!

But, somehow, I do. And this year is no exception.

I'm gonna do it. 

And while I go and ponder about a theme/no theme and dig into my camera that hasn't left Qatar for 12 months to figure out what I'll be sharing with you this year, I leave you with this spoken word piece that I wrote at the end of last year and performed a month ago.

It has been a year of sequestering, solitude and finding paths that lead me back to the simpler joys of life like sitting with a book under our neem tree listening to birdsong. Things I thought I'd miss a lot like travelling, trekking and seeing new places have not been missed as much. Perhaps, it's the realisation that there is so much to be thankful for as I turn fifty: good health, loved ones and friends, decent food,  fresh air, walks in parks, sunsets and sunrises, waves lapping to the shores, buds blooming and earthworms wriggling in my patch of green and a safe place I call home -- the most precious things that make this life blissful and that's plenty. 

I hope to see you soon. 

Take good care. 

Arti