Nineteen Days

It's that time of year again. Baha'is around the world are preparing for that special time of spiritual renewal--the Baha'i Fast. Nineteen days of fasting during which we make a special effort to turn our focus inward, refreshing our hearts and re-invigorating our spirits through reflection and prayer.

Sarah-J (left); Ramin Hosseini (right)

During the past three years one of the highlights of the fasting period has been following, and participating in, the Nineteen Days blog--a collaborative photography project created by Amy and Leila that enlists photographers from across the globe in sharing reflections on the Fast and beautiful images taken daily at dawn and dusk, some of which I've included here.

.leili (above)

Tomorrow Nineteen Days enters its fourth year, with an incredible line up of photographers from every corner of the world. I hope you'll join us.

.leila (left); elliot|v (right)

Nineteen Days

For nineteen days every March, just before the start of spring, Baha'is all around the world make a special effort to turn our attention from the daily details that so often occupy our thougts, and instead focus inward, allowing reflection and prayer to refresh the heart and re-invigorate the spirit.

For the past three years Amy and Leila have engaged in an inspiring photography project during this special nineteen day period, collaborating with photographers from around the world to take photos at dawn and dusk and share them along with a quote and a reflection on the Nineteen Days website. Last year's collaboration was so successful that it has been turned into this beautiful book (available here!)


This year's collaboration is well under way, with stunning images, beautiful quotations and thoughtful reflections coming from all corners of the globe. Yesterday was my day to participate, and it made me wish I had the initiative not just for a single day, but at every dawn and dusk, to walk outside and examine my surroundings for some beauty and inspiration. On yesterday's walks, this is what I found to share.

My dawn:


My dusk:

Two Cities by the Sea

In April we spent nine days visiting the Baha'i holy places in Haifa and Akka, two cities on the edge of the Mediterranean that hold a special significance for all Baha'is.

In Akka we walked the paths of history through the ancient city, following in footsteps made over a century ago.




In the rooms, the courtyards, and the gardens we passed through in Haifa and Akka, the air is heavy with the weight of the prayers and thoughts of hundreds of thousands of visitors to these sacred places.






We had time to reflect, to remember our loved ones, to soak in the beauty, to breathe those Mediterranean breezes touched ever so slightly with the scent of roses, and to refresh our minds and hearts.






More photos on Flickr.

Sunset Photos

The Fast ended at sunset yesterday with the celebration Naw Ruz, the Baha'i New Year. Naw Ruz is a celebration of renewal, of new beginnings. In the world outside we will soon begin to see signs of spring--new shoots pushing up through the cold soil, buds bursting into bloom on the trees. On a personal level, the pensive period of the Fast leaves me feeling refreshed and uplifted and ready for new challenges and experiences to come my way.

Happy Naw Ruz everyone!

International Women's Day

Typically I like to keep things light here on the blog. But what is the point of sharing things with family, friends and strangers in cyberspace if I don't share the things that matter?

This evening I was pondering this quotation from the Baha'i Writings:

There must be an equality of rights between men and women. . . For the world of humanity possesses two wings: man and woman. If one wing remains incapable and defective, it will restrict the power of the other, and full flight will be impossible. Therefore, the completeness and perfection of the human world is dependent upon the equal development of these two wings.

Today is International Women's Day. The fact that we need a special day in the year to remind us to celebrate women seems an indication that we still have a long way to go before we reach that ideal of equality we aspire to.

Statistically women in the United States still earn only 77% of what men do for the same jobs; 1 in 3 women worldwide will be a victim of physical abuse during her lifetime, most likely at the hands of an intimate partner; all over the developing world women's literacy rates are significantly lower than men's; and women are many times more likely than men to suffer forced prostitution, rape, trafficking, and indentured servitude, and in many countries these crimes go unnoticed and unpunished.

I hope that anyone who stops by to read this will give a thought to those statistics and agree that they are unacceptable. No matter where we live and what we do, every one of us can make an effort to become informed about the issues that uniquely impact half the inhabitants of our planet, be a voice for equality when the opportunity presents itself, and strive to change the attitudes of those around us. We don't want to hand those statistics down to our daughters and granddaughters.

The Fast

Today was the first day of a very special time of year, a time when Baha'is all around the world make efforts to turn our attention from the material and the mundane that so often occupy our thoughts and focus instead on the needs of the spirit, sometimes overlooked in the craziness of our daily lives. It is a time of prayer, reflection, and service, and as a symbol of the effort to prioritize the needs of the soul over the those of the body, Baha'is forgo food and drink between sunrise and sunset. I like to think of it as a chance to refresh my spirit in preparation for the coming year, which begins with spring on March 21st.

The Fast lasts for 19 days, and I did have an inspiring little photography project in mind for those 19 days in order to share this uplifting time with you all. As it turns out, however, I was not able to get things together in time. Fear not. If you are seeking something uplifting I highly recommend you wander on over to Nineteen Days--a collaborative photography project by Amy and Leila, who will be taking pictures every dawn and dusk in New York City and Sydney, respectively, and sharing them with all of us. I may join them by posting a dawn photo or two here myself if I can manage to remember my camera in my bleary-eyed state before sunrise. Suffice it to say, this morning I did not. Instead I share a photo I took during the early hours of the morning during the Fast last year.

Foiled Again

I have been thinking about gifts this week. And with good reason. Ayyam'i'Ha has just begun! Ayyam'i'Ha is a special time for Baha'i families--it is a holiday meant for joyful celebration, being of service to others, and giving gifts.

Since Ash and I have been married I have been a sad failure in the gift giving department. For some reason, gift giving occasions roll around I can never think what to give him. Then months later, when his birthday or Ayyam'i'Ha are still months away, something good will occur to me. I will buy it, intending to save it for the special occasion, but my excitement will get the best of me and I can't resist giving it to him right away. I have never managed to hold out for more than a day. But then I'm giftless once again when the gifting occasion rolls around!

Not this year, I decided. The perfect gift occurred to me with the perfect timing. While in Vancouver I decided I would get him a bicycle. He has been wanting one for ages and I have maintained there is no space in our apartment for it, but with a little shuffling I believe we can make it work. I spent last week researching bicycles, learning about frames, brakes, gears, and sizes. I spoke to bicycle shops. I spoke to mechanics. I only told a few people about my plan--people who I knew would keep my secret.

But a dilemma arose. I could not decide if Ash would prefer a city bike or a road bike. Would he want to be a leisurely urban cyclist? Using the bike to get from place to place, zipping across the Brooklyn Bridge for appointments downtown? Or would he want to go for long rides on the weekends, crouched down Lance Armstrong-style while whizzing along purely for enjoyment of the sport? Would it be best if I surprised him by taking him to the bicycle shop and letting him choose for himself?

I floated the idea yesterday...

Me: I have a dilemma. I am getting you a gift for Ayyam'i'Ha and I can't decide between two options.
Ash: You don't have to get me anything!
Me: Yes I do. I have been secretly planning this and it is all set. It is going to be a huge surprise. But I am looking at two specific options. How do you feel about coming to the shop with me to make the final decision?
Ash: Would someone else know what I would like?
Me: I don't think so.
Ash: What about Shamim (business partner) or Maziar (brother)?
Me: No, I don't think they would know.
Ash: Okay then, I'll come. But you really don't have to get me anything.
About five seconds pass.
Ash: You know what we should get each other for Ayyam'i'Ha? Bicycles!
Me: Uh...mmmm...hum...uh...
Ash: Oh no, that's not what it is, is it? Did I guess it? Your face just turned really pale!
Me: (Sniff sniff) I can't believe this.

Foiled again.

Part Three: Banana Bread and "Gourmet" Sabzi

This is the last in my series of weekend cooking posts. I will have to move onto something different for my next few posts as I won't be cooking for a bit. Now I'm on a mission to clear the fridge of leftovers!

Monday was a Baha'i Holy Day, and fortuitously it was a work holiday as well. In celebration of the Holy Day a friend hosted brunch at her home. I baked a quick banana bread in the morning to take over. I have made banana bread a few time before and invariably it comes out of the oven looking lovely, but concealed in the middle is a little spot of doughy not-quite-done-ness that I can't get rid of. Why? I always thought it was because the bananas congregated in the middle, but this time I pureed the bananas into a banana soup, rather than just mashing them with a fork, so I know for a fact they were evenly distributed! If I leave it in the oven longer, the whole rest of the loaf dries out. This loaf was no exception. See below...

The outer slices deceptively look just right. But cut in a little further and look:
Is it my pan? (A non-stick 9-inch loaf pan.) Is it my oven? (A non-descript ancient clunker.) Is it the recipe? If anyone has thoughts, or better recipes to share, I am open to suggestions.

I had much greater success on Monday afternoon, which I spent making a famous Persian stew called qormeh sabzi (قرمه ‌سبزی ). Personally, I like to refer to it as gourmet sabzi, or "gourmet greens." It's an herb stew made with meat, dark red kidney beans, and lime. The name comes from the selection of green herbs that go into it--mountains of parsley, cilantro, chives, scallions, and fenugreek (I had to use dried for that last one). I snapped a photo mid-process of the herbs ready to go into the pot.

Sadly I did not have the presence of mind to photograph the finished product. By the time it was finished cooking (after 3 hours of slow simmering), we were so eager to eat that pictures were the last thing on our minds.

Reflections

Setting the stage for Ruhi.