Thoughts About Rain

 When you don't have something it becomes precious. 

That's my love affair with tropical rain.

DOH! I Wanted That Rain!

 It never rains all day on STJ. Rain comes through in fast moving patches of showers, sometimes so thick the world disappears, sometimes no more than fine mist. It starts to sound like approaching wind, then a train barreling by as the sky opens, lets loose it's streaming energy, then it fades away. A soaking Doppler effect! Sometimes the rain lasts a couple minutes, sometimes seconds. Sometimes I can watch it coming, then it passes by, a near miss.

There is usually a rainbow because it might not be raining where I am but I can see the rain passing by. Sometimes there are  two!

 I have stood in the street and stayed dry while it soaked the road not 20 feet away from me. Right now it's raining and the sun is out. 

When it rains the dry earth soaks up the water immediately, giving off a thick, moldy aroma. The rain is warm. But there are things to be careful about rain -  it makes the roads slick like driving on oil. Whatever algae is living on the dry road becomes activated Jello when wet, then you hear the sounds of spinning tires on concrete. The roads have textured surfaces to try to keep cars from sliding away - GERONIMOOOOOH!!!!!! 

When I'm out hiking and it rains it's like standing in a soft shower. Hiking in the rain is especially slow going, the rocks can be like ice , one wrong step and you're down.

Rain is welcome. It fills the cisterns, it waters the gardens and cleans the dust and dirt away. It washes the sticky bird sugar off the railing. It means the plants will live, the animals will have food. I can do laundry! I love standing by the cistern hatch listening to the water echoing into the tank.

Plant leaves are designed to catch water as it falls , directing it to the roots, sometimes along the trunk of the tree, sometimes by streaming it off the edges of the serrated leaves onto the root circle. For example, banana leaves have large surfaces and a bowed shape that collect and stream the water so it flows directly into the porous ground. Under these plants groundcover and smaller plants can grow. It's all planned out in a canopy strata as one plant helps itself and its neighbor. A way to learn how the plants get water is to water them from above, simulating a rain shower. See how this rain thing can become an obsession? Are you taking notes?

Our Banana Trees

Water is the life of every living thing. When it's not plentiful you miss it and want it. Coming from an area of the country that has rain being without it is weird. I could never live in a desert state. I like the living things and color rain brings. When it can't be taken for granted that it's just going to limitlessly come out of the faucet, you start to be aware of it. Besides, I miss a rainy day of watching movies, Downton Abbey marathons and having an excuse not to do anything.

Not that anyone needs an excuse here, but rain helps.