Yesterday Alexa told me the weather. The Rain would start around 11 PM and would end around midnight. That sounded a little too specific, but Alexa was right. I saw the raindrops on the storm door at 11:15. The rain was light so the dogs didn’t mind going out to the yard. They came back inside barely wet. When I checked at midnight, the rain had stopped.

Today is cloudy and warm but showers are predicted. We still have the wind but a lighter wind. The air is damp. I have an empty dance card. I do have a few household chores. I see dust everywhere, and it billows in the hall when I walk to the kitchen. Either I sweep or I close my eyes every trip to the kitchen.

Ramadan started last night. The month of Ramadan is for praying and fasting from sunrise to sunset. Fasting is a way of cleansing the soul and learning empathy for the hungry and less fortunate. I had several students who were Muslims. They would get up in the darkness of the early morning to prepare and eat Food. But by the afternoon classes, they were hungry and had trouble concentrating. It was their sacrifice. I used to walk around the school compound after sunset. My Muslim students were sitting on the porches of the dorms preparing food. They always offered me some of their food, and I always refused in the politest way as I wanted them to have the food.

I remember the end of Ramadan called Eid al-Fitr. The festivities and the food started the day after Ramadan ended and lasted three days. Cannons, or at least they sounded like cannons, and guns were shot off from family compounds and from town. Food was shared. One year my school cooked a goat over wood charcoal. I was invited to the feast. I ate well.