“The thunderhead collects out over the distant plain giving a show of what is to come.”
Some time during the early morning it rained. The streets are still a bit wet along the sides. The day is damp and it’s dark. I’m staying home today.
When I was a kid, I walked to school, even on a rainy day. I didn’t have rain boots, but I did have a raincoat. I didn’t wear a hat. I always got wet. The cloakroom outside my classroom smelled of wet. In winter it was wet wool. On a rainy day, boots were on the floor under the coat hooks. The floor stayed wet all day.
When I’d get home from school. I’d be wet again. In winter my shoes went under the radiator. My uniform got hung up to dry. I’d put on my pajamas and slippers even though it was late afternoon. They made me feel warm and cozy.
Spitting rain is just an annoyance. I want heavy rain beating the roof and windows. I want to be surrounded by the sound of rain.
I loved the rainy season in Ghana. The first rains were tremendous. They pounded the tin roofs of my house and the classroom block where I taught. The sound was so loud I couldn’t teach. I couldn’t be heard. Each time I’ve returned to Ghana, it has been during the tail end of the rainy season. The storms even then are still tremendous. On my first time back, I was on my way to the market when the heavy rain started. I stood under an overhang outside a shop. The woman in the shop saw me and invited me inside where it was dry. I sat on the chair she offered. I think her customers were wondering what the white woman was during sitting in the shop. During my last visit, my friends and I sat in the dining room at Zaina Lodge. The room was open on three sides. We could see the sheet of rain making its way toward us. When the rain reached us, it poured heavy drops which fell straight down. We watched until the storm ended. We stayed dry. At our hotel in Bolga, we sat in the restaurant under the thatch roof above the table and chairs. The rain surrounded us. I loved it.
Explore posts in the same categories: Musings
October 2, 2018 at 1:19 pm
So a few days ago I am standing on the top of Masada in 100F weather and here I am back in Detroit with 50s, dark mornings and rain, lots and lots of rain.
Today is Mrs MDH’s birthday, which means tomorrow is the official start of my Christmas season as I fret and stress over the season ahead and what to find her. This is compounded by a Christmas sack which looks stupid if under filled and an advent calendar which requires 12 purchases as a door is opened each day in December (assuming I have 12) – how many chap sticks can you give ?
Here in Michigan, we expect the October rains and I clear the patio furniture late in September. This year I got it done before we went to Israel and it would appear that was a good decision.
Baseball is over, the Lions are 1-3, Tottenham are playing very good football, its all quite predictable really
October 2, 2018 at 1:41 pm
Welcome back, My Dear Hedley!!
Warm regards to Mrs. MDH!!
I have several Christmas presents upstairs. I have to sort through, mark them on my list and put them in individual bags. That will give me an idea of what I need.
You have quite the task filling the advent calendar. I gave my mother a wooden one with little doors. I wrapped every small gift. She had great fun. Why only 12 purchases and not 24?
I’ll take the rain over 100˚ weather.
The Lions did beat the Pats who are starting the season at 2-2 which was the same last season. The Sox play later in the week. They have been great fun to watch.
October 2, 2018 at 2:25 pm
Kat
there are 24 doors, I am responsible for the 12 that belong to Mrs MDH
October 2, 2018 at 2:55 pm
MDH,
That makes better sense, splitting them between you, than having to fill all of them.
October 2, 2018 at 10:04 pm
Welcome back. I would love to stand atop Massada. It must have been so inspiring to stand where a small group of Jews was able to defeat the entire Roman Army. My favorite author Ernest K. Gann wrote a wonderful book about Massada called “The Antagonists”.
October 3, 2018 at 5:52 am
Bob, you can still hike to the top, but we took the cable car. It’s quite inspiring both in terms of the remains and the history. We then went on to the Dead Sea and I contrived to fall in to a hole while photographing Mrs MDH and the group floating around
I did have a brief time at the Wall and also went in to the cave to the side. When walking through security the young officer recognized the Tottenham Hotspur emblem on my polo and we had a good laugh for a couple of minutes
Take a look at the link for Magdala
http://www.magdala.org
It is a small site near Galilee where a synagogue from around 100AD is been excavated and it stands right next to a Chapel. It’s a small site but one of the most moving locations
October 2, 2018 at 2:45 pm
Kat
As we hit the season, the box sets and new issues are flowing faster than I can follow. Bob Dylan has finally announced Bootleg 14 – More Blood More Tracks which in the deluxe edition is 6 discs from the New York and Minneapolis sessions of Blood on the Tracks. – essential for me
Then there is a multidisc version of The Beatles White Album and John Lennon’s Imagine. REM are offering all their BBC recordings, Steven Wilson is rolling his Albert Hall shows, Hendrix has gone multi disc on Electric Lady land…phew, so much music
October 2, 2018 at 2:57 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I have ironclad rules about holiday shopping. I can get nothing for myself. If I buy something for someone, no matter how much I really, really want it, it goes to the person for whom I bought it. No gift cards are acceptable presents.
October 3, 2018 at 9:58 am
Kat,
I SO love a gift card as I spend it in my head 1,000 times before executing. By serendipity, I started this year with $500 in my Amazon account, and have enjoyed the whole year wandering in and out of music and book purchases that I absolutely had to have – expending exactly $0
My last credit purchase will be the Bob Box, all this has been most fun
October 3, 2018 at 10:46 am
MDH,
I have always given my niece and nephews a new ornament, fancy soap, a movie and a book as parts of their gifts since they were tiny. Now they are parents so I do the same for their kids. Plus the grandnephews get a Hesse truck. I figure that’s enough.
October 3, 2018 at 4:20 pm
I love rain. I enjoy putting this on when we have too many sunny days. http://www.rainymood.com/
October 3, 2018 at 4:48 pm
splendid,
I love falling asleep listening to the rain.
What a wonderful link! Thank you!!!