Salam,

I dread going to stores like the Home Depot. Usually I'm dragged by the father to assist him in finding x nut to go with y bolt. I'd rather drill a nail into my head than ever have to deal with shopping for home appliances and such. If there's anything nice I get out of it, it's spending time with Baba (although I don't appreciate it at the time. I mean who the jahanam knows the difference between sheathing and subflooring? Don't bother enlightening me; I really don't care).

But anyways, today, Mom and I reluctantly walked into Dad's Jannah on Earth (actually the Dollar Shop is more like it, but Home Depot's up there) and finally purchased the only materialistic, dunya-absorbed thing I ever wanted- a yard swing!

Every summer, I look forward to spending afternoons together at my uncle's house. My aunt's a good cook, cute cousins, they all love me, AND they have a yard swing! Why such an obsession? I never feel more at peace (ranked after the daily prayers) than I do lying under the sun. Sprawled on the swing, swaying back and forth to catch some mercy from a stubborn wind while my other senses are enwrapped in the imagination, lending them to characters from a book I would be reading. And then I fall asleep and only wake up to my little cousin, Yaseen, poking some foreign object into my hijab.

Bliss is at its best when temporary.

So today, I started assembling this monster of a yard swing that Mom and I lugged home from the Depot. It was past noon, when the heat is most unforgiving. Mom was worried I'd collapse from overheating, but I was too caught up in playing Rosie the Riveter; like I even knew what I was doing- the instructions were intricate like in a different language. No really, I was actually reading the Spanish version and gave up after "Paso Uno".

After decrypting the English version, I called it quits once I assembled the frame and canopy. I call this an accomplishment, Alhamdulilah. Must I add, I actually did this on my own? I was working that wrench...single-handedly! Sigh. Pride only comes before a fall.

Keep it halal.