When the going gets tough.

It's wonderful to watch movies in which the hero faces overwhelming odds—hatred, hostility, threats and danger—to fight for what he or she believes in. As you watch, you imagine that you, too, would stand up for what you believe in and fight. You, too, would stand on the front lines as the rocks flew. You, too, would risk everything to do that right thing.

Last spring, I found out that I am not one of those heroes. I am that character in the movie who means well, but hides behind closed doors when the bad guys come knocking. When the going gets tough, I quit.

On Friday, March 23, I posted what I thought was a funny little commentary about the smells of Lagos. It's a part of life here. I thought that was understood. It's a city that has grown faster than its infrastructure. All the great cities of the world have experienced the same growing pains. It's not unique to Lagos. But I touched a nerve with Lagosians. It was not meant as an attack on the people here. It was an expression of my experience here.

Hey, I'm from Houston, Texas. Only Houstonians seem to love Houston. And I hate it when anyone criticizes my hometown (or even loves it less than I do). So I understand the passion.

I am willing to engage in a healthy debate, but what ensued in the comments section of that post was not healthy. There were voices of reason (for which I am overwhelmingly grateful), but there was also a lot of hatred. When someone threatened my children, the party was over. I shut it down. I shut it all down.

Since then, I've been waffling over whether to start blogging again. The very idea makes my hands shake. I get all sweaty. But as much as I love to run from a good fight, I also love to write. And writing a blog about my life here makes me more observant to my surroundings. It gives me cause to think and understand the things I see and experience. So I am going to try this again. I am going to timidly stick my toes into the blogging waters. This time with password protection.

If you're reading this, then you've been willing to go to the trouble to create a Google account and log in. Thank you.

I'll do my best to make it worth your while.