A Little Sunshine

After more than a week of near constant rain and cloudy skies, the sun has finally deigned to show its face in Lianga for the first time today although if one does look up at the sky from anywhere in town, there is always what seems to be a hint of dark mist in the far horizon beyond the sea and behind the thickly forested mountains to the west. One can almost sense that this lull in the wet weather is merely a prelude to still more rain and that the heat and dryness of the coming summer months are still far away despite the fact that the calendar says it is already the middle of February.

With the seasonal rains have come two of the usual plagues that regularly visit the town this time of the year. One is intermittent electrical brownouts caused by disruptions in the power transmission lines of the electric power cooperative supplying power to the Lianga area. When the rains starts thundering down hard accompanied occasionally by gusty winds, electric posts are toppled down and power lines are shorted out or cut by falling trees, tree branches and other debris. Thus when heavy rain comes, it is almost inevitable that a power interruption is forthcoming and the local people have become in many ways used to that fact.

The second consequence of rainy weather, of course, is the further deterioration of Lianga area's already badly dilapidated dirt roads. Travel becomes not only extremely difficult but sometimes made impossible by landslides, flooding and impassable road sections transformed by too much rain into quagmires of mud.

But thank God for the small miracles. At least for today the sun did come out and the chance to get out of the house today on foot and without the obligatory umbrella was indeed a blessing to be savored after days and days of being cooped up indoors. Then there's that sweet, delicately scented, freshly washed quality to the air that one breathes in and the caress of the morning sun on one's face and skin that is like a warm, soothing balm that refreshes the body and spirit.

As I write this post it is already 8 PM and rain is again pouring down. The respite is over and it's back to watching the fat raindrops streak across the glass panes of the windows of the house. It is probably going to be another rainy day tomorrow but for today the sunny interlude was a like an unexpected gift.

Too short yet sweet just the same and extremely nice while it lasted.