1/18/2008

Oh, Anzali!

Snow, fog, and beauty in Bandar Anzali, Gilan, Iran. Photo from Alef Shin (by Mr. Anoush).
This is what I woke up to in my in-box. Lovely, lovely Anzali Port in snow. So many times, true joy is ridiculously close to us, just a few clicks away, costing nothing, and immeasurably rewarding. We should just look for it.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

مرسی از عکس
شنیدم همچین برفی خیلی وقته نباریده در شمال ایران...

مرضیه

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the picture, Nazy Joonam: Happiness is always a click away! Some people like to look at pictures, others write emails to a friend:) What i do is go to youtube.com and search for "funny monster kassie".

It is the cutest child I have ever seen saying the cutest thing!! I hope you enjoy my little click of happiness. I did enjoy yours very much!

Anonymous said...

Hi Nazy, I read your comment about Taraneh Sadigheh's paintings and clicked on your website to find out more about you since your comment was so eloquently written. I have really enjoyed reading the things you have posted on your site. I am so sad that I don't have any women Iranian friends (or male for that matter)in my life! And now that I am getting divorced from my shohar irooni, it will be even more lonely. I will check in on your blog from time to time. Thank you for writing. I was really blessed by your writing about trying to live without regrets. Right now, that is a huge challenge for me because I wish so much that my husband had not made the choices he has, but since he has, and since they are his alone, I must go on with my life and take care of my three children, too--who are, like yours, I think, young adults or teens. Thank you again. ZanAmrikai

Unknown said...

Hi dear Nazy,
I have a lot of memories from Bandar Anzali during my childhood. Thanks for the lovely picture.

Nazy said...

Salam Marzieh Jan:

I am glad you enjoyed Alef Shin's photo contribution. Yes, snow and blizzards and cold everywhere in Iran and in the region seems to be the order of the day. I hope things warm down a bit soon and that people without means don't suffer much more. Be good azizam.

Nazy said...

Assal Joonam, Salam:

Hee Hee, I will be sure to go check out those videos then! I am glad they make you happy. Yes, I do believe that when we are low, though it might be nice to dream about warm places, palms, and surf and sand, it might be more practical and economical to look around ourselves and find joy in simpler things in life. They are there, we should just look! Have a good weekend beautiful Assal.

Nazy said...

Zan-e-Amrikai Joon, Salam.

Hello and welcome! What an absolutely delightful surprise your visit has been for me tonight! I thank you for your compliment about that humble comment on Iranian.com, but I really thank you for following me and finding me and my friends here!

I write my blogs in English so that I can reach and appeal to those who can't read Farsi, but who want to know about Iran and Iranians. My "talking" and "commenting" audience are almost entirely Iranians (first generation and second generation)either from Iran or from other parts of the world. Hang with us, Zanamrikai Jan. You might enjoy some of the dialogues that take place in the posts.

I feel for your pain and anguish as you end a relationship and get on your way to a new stage of your life. I share those experiences with you, and am intimately familiar with what you are going through these days. Marriages happen among people all the time. Divorces also, unfortunately, happen all the time. But when you embark on an inter-national, inter-ethnicity, or inter-faith marriage, you face a lot more challenges and perhaps a lot more joy, too. Families and societies don't necessarily all react favorably to mixed marriages and more than a few eyebrows are raised. When you have given your inter-national marriage so much effort and love to have had three beautiful children, I know this divorce is anything but ordinary, and it must have its own special pain with it. You are an American woman who reads Iranian.com, likes the arts, is interested in expressing herself and reading others' expressions (all this I judge from your appearance here tonight). I am sure your loss, whatever the reason, cannot be an easy matter to that Iranian man, either.

Though we use the words "marriage" and "divorce" generically, there is nothing generic to any relationship. Each relationship has its own unique and dedicated set of conditions and circumstances and feelings. It is unfortunate that relationships have to end sometimes, but they might be the beginnings of other types of relationship both with our now ex-partner, our children, our society around, and the lucky one who will come along sometime later to start a new one with us. That's what I think, anyway!

I send you a thousand good vibrations for managing your life with strength, dignity, and joy. You obviously seem like a very special woman and I have faith you will manage just fine.

Please do come back again soon. I am re-running a story I told my audience in my blogs last year in Iranian.com these days. It is called "Khosrow and Shirin." Take a look and tell me what you think.

Be good and happy azizam.

Nazy said...

Salam Shirin Jan:

I am so glad the photo brought back good memories for you, too. You know, throughout an iteration of my life (Version 5.0 or 6.0, maybe!), I became an honorary Gilani, a Rashti! I traveled there many many times and learned about the geography, climate, arts, foods, and people of Gilan. Though I was not a born Gilani (a Gilandokht), I believe I can hold a decent conversation about the region, if I may say so myself! I have talked about Gilan frequently, and continue to find it appealing to my senses, so I keep on writing about it.

Come back again and visit soon Shirin Jan.

مسعود said...

سلام نازی خانم
سهراب هم همین را در مورد رستگاری گفته است ،اگر اشتباه نکنم:رستگاری لای گلهای حیاط
رستگاری همان شادی حقیقی ست. زندگی پرست از اتفاق های ساده.درک این سادگی شادی آور است.فیزیکدانهای بزرگ در طبیعت به دنبال سادگی می گردند و همه قوای نهفته در آنرا می خواهند با یک رابطه ساده بیان کنند.
همه چیز به همین سادگیست که تو گفتی

Nazy said...

Thank you Masoud Jan, for reading my words so obviously with your heart. Yes, Sohrab was a master of simplicity in defining life and his joys in it. Thank you my friend.