Monsoons

I have to admit there is nothing more wonderful than monsoon season. When it started getting way too warm in April, I worried if I would positively melt before July when monsoon season hits. But I made the most of it and spent every afternoon in my pool with the kids to ease the heat a bit. Imagine my surprise when I didn't have to wait for the end of July to roll around before we got our monsoons. Now to those who haven't experienced these magical rainstorms, let me try to describe them. Most of them begin with a very sunny morning, maybe a few clouds in the sky, but it looks more like a wonderful day that will be wonderfully hot in the afternoon. Around noon or one, you can look south and start to see more clouds coming your way. And that's when I get excited. For about an hour before the rains hit, you can hear the distant rumblings of thunder getting louder and louder. If you take a peek every 20 minutes like I do, it's amazing to see the deep, dark gray of the clouds as they get nearer and nearer. Once they are overhead, you will hear about 20 seconds of the soft pitter-patter of rain, then it becomes a torrent. It's amazing that you can hear the size of the raindrops getting bigger and bigger as they fall with greater force on the roof. The downpour usually only lasts for about 20 minutes, but you can hear the rain coming off the roof for about another 5 minutes, almost like it couldn't quite keep up with the rain. These short cloud bursts can come once an afternoon or several times, but each time it's amazing! Two nights ago we had our worst storm that I've ever lived through here. It rained torrentially for about 2 hours, complete with a brilliant lightening show accompanied by the symphony of thunder and rain. At times the flashes were so close I knew I should be hearing thunder, but couldn't because of the drumming of the rain on the roof. Spectacular, that's the only word for it.

I do have to put one little side-note about monsoons, when the clouds roll in, but they don't release the rain, don't stand next to me because I'll be the sweatiest, stinkiest person. But those days are few and far between. Usually they dump the much-needed rain, creating an artistic feast for every sense I have.