Singing In The Rain

Singing, laughing, rejoicing, doing everything short of dancing nude in the rain, which actually appealed to me, but I thought it best not to subject the neighbours  to such a frightening spectacle.

Oh Heavenly Water!

Coming from the Pacific northwest it never occurred to me that I would one day be desperate to see rain. I remember commenting during one long, gray rainy season in Patzcuaro that I might as well have stayed in Vancouver, for the amount of rain, fog and bone-chilling dampness I was experiencing. However, even in Patzcuaro , by the end of the dry season I was whining about the dust and was more than ready for some rain.

Now, after living in San Miguel for almost a year, I am beginning to understand what dryness really is. This area is high desert and gets much, much less rainfall than Patzcuaro, and last season, according to locals, it was even drier than usual.

We live behind six soccer fields. They are not grass, they are dirt and gravel. We also get some pretty strong winds here. April, May and June are very warm so we like to have the windows and doors open to catch some of that nice breeze. What this adds up to is so much dirt and dust in the house that a shovel is more appropriate to remove it than a broom. Yes, I’m whining again, only more this time.

We brought two little humidifiers from Patzcuaro but they weren’t really up to the task of raising the humidity in the house much. Todd started to get nose bleeds and we both developed very bad allergies. When we went to the doctor for some allergy medication he told us that this was a common occurrence and that it would pass when the rains came.

We went immediately to Liverpool and bought a very spiffy, powerful air filter and a new, larger, and more sophisticated humidifier and settled down to wait. With the air filter the allergies eased up some and with three humidifiers Todd stopped having nose bleeds. I retired the shovel in favour of a broom and life went on somewhat more comfortably.

About three weeks ago we began to experience heavy black clouds, thunder and lightning in the evenings. Seeing as the rainy season was already about a month late in arriving, there were reports of rain from many other areas, we thought this must be an indication that rain was imminent. We stood by the window watching the lightning and listening to the thunder, and waited…..

Blessed Rain!

We waited for about two weeks. Then finally one night about a week and a half ago we heard it. A light patter of rain. It started slowly but since then we have had rain almost every evening. The weather during the day is beautiful with temperatures in the seventies and then the rain comes in the late afternoon or evening dropping the temperature down to the fifties over night.

The lawn is green, the flowers are flourishing, my jasmine is blooming and life is good. It is so beautiful here now that I am understanding the great appeal this city holds for so many people. I now count myself among them.