“Vexed sailors cursed the rain, for which poor shepherds prayed in vain.”
It is a new day but seemingly the same day. The small breeze, the clouds and the humidity were yesterday and are now today. Henry and I had business outside. He did his. I did mine by collecting the last two chair covers and bringing them inside. I had left them out to dry. They had, but rain is coming. All the covers are piled in the kitchen. The storage bins are under the deck maybe. They could be downstairs. I’ll look tomorrow. As for today, I need to go out, two stops, maybe three if the rain hasn’t yet come.
Standing out in a rainstorm was one of my favorite things when I was a kid. Downpours were the best. I’d stand there with my arms spread, my face to the rain. I’d get soaked. Sadly, downpours never lasted long. The sun always made a comeback. I’d stay outside and dry.
In the dry season, everything turned brown all around me. I walked on hard ground cemented by the dryness. My lips chapped. My feet became calloused. I used a lot of lotion. I adjusted, but I hardly liked the dry season. It was so hot every day. Its only saving graces were the bugs disappeared, and the hot air was actually dry. We kept eye. In April, the humidity started. The rain wasn’t far behind. The first rains were downpours thicker than I’d ever seen. The dry ground had rivulets. The rain on the tin classroom roof was so loud I couldn’t be heard. I used the blackboard to teach. Sometimes I got soaked running to class. I didn’t mind so much. It rained most days. Everything in the fields turned green. The women walking to market were hidden by the tall grass. Millet grew high in fields behind my house. The rainy season, though, didn’t seemed to last near enough. In September, the rain came less frequently. By mid-October it had stopped. It was the dry season again. I had come full circle my first year in Ghana.
Here, the rain can come any season. I like it best in summer.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: millet, Peace Corps Ghana, rainy season
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
July 13, 2020 at 2:19 pm
Hi Kat,
Yet another scorcher today. We will hit the century mark by three this afternoon.
There’s an area near and on either side of the equator called the inter tropical convergence zone. When flying near and across the equator the thunderstorms can be tremendous with very heavy rainfall rates. Ghana is probably in that area and that’s why in the wet season you got soaked.
Thankfully, I’m at work enjoying myself. The only thing I did when Air was young is turned my hobby and love of aviation into my career. Jokingly, I probably will never retire and just have them carry me from my classroom directly to the cemetery. 🙂
July 13, 2020 at 3:01 pm
Hi Bob,
It is hot here with the temperature at 81˚, and it is humid. Tonight the low will be 68. The clouds are gone. Finally sun!
I found some neat information. “The ITCZ, intertropical convergence zone, follows the sun in that the position varies seasonally. It moves north in the Northern Hemisphere summer and south in the Northern Hemisphere winter. Therefore, the ITCZ is responsible for the wet and dry seasons in the tropics.” Those deluges gave way to heavy rain.
When I returned to Ghana, the rain was still amazing to watch. We sat outside under a thatched roof over a table where we had breakfast and also usually ate dinner.
As long as you still love it, it’s a good idea to stay there.