Rooted in the Sand

Rooted in the Sand
A personal tribute to the Emirates on UAE National Day

People sometimes imagine Dubai as only desert and tall towers. I wish they could spend a morning in my garden in Barsha, especially now, when the weather invites us outside.

There are herbs and strawberries growing, cats wandering nearby, birds in the trees, butterflies and dragonflies passing through. I enjoy stepping outside and finding something new to notice. This little corner is full of life, and tending it has become part of mine.

As UAE National Day approaches, I think with affection about the years I have spent here. Memories from ten or twenty years ago return through small things: a place we visited, a conversation, the weather, a delicious meal. I remember how happy I felt then, and how much I still enjoy discovering today.

I have grown here, too. I have learned, developed my craft and found interests that keep my hands busy and my mind curious. Arabic food has become part of our everyday table—food I know, love and enjoy daily. The culture, flavours and familiar places are woven into my life.

Some of those impressions find their way into Kemiskhan. Camel milk, date palms, herbs, colours and little details spark ideas for soaps and packaging. Making things gives me a way to share something of the place I have come to cherish. Behind a design, there may be a memory, a feeling or something that caught my eye on an ordinary day.

Sometimes I look around and think: a family, a home, a garden, animals, and work that lets me create. What more could I wish for? Then another idea arrives, of course—another soap, another painting, another plant to grow.

This UAE National Day, I feel grateful for the life I have built in the Emirates, for what these years have taught me, and for the everyday pleasures I still look forward to.

After all these years, I have roots here. Quite literally, in the sand.

Hugging you all with love,
Oksana