Winter is finally here... and it's not even cold. I just know because everything is bone dry.
All the leaves on the trees are brown and withered, the grass on the lawn is on its last legs. It beginning to cease looking like grass and looking more like soil.
Everywhere you look brown is the predominant colour. There are still a few stragglers mind you. The Poinsettia is blooming and adding a bit of red to the fray. My vehicle in the driveway is now a striking white,(that us until the dust settles on it again and it becomes a dull white and dusty car again). Even the cats have decided to take on that special brown hue as they roll in the dust and bring it into the house for all to share.
It's at times like these that I get very jealous of people in Europe and the like and wonder why are they bitching and moaning because it has rained non stop for the past 6 days. Although, after 6 days of non stop rain here, we would also be moaning. All we ask for is a shower a day, 20 minutes, 40 minutes tops. Just to keep everything green. Is that too much to ask for?
Apparently so!
But then.... the first rains of the season would not be the happiest time of your life. The smell, the refreshing feeling, the sharpness of everything around you as the dust has finally been washed away from the skyline. It is truly wonderful to be in Africa after the first rains have fallen.
I know it is only June now and the rains should only begin by the middle of November, but I am on countdown already. Waiting to see the world around me transformed. I am waiting to feel the sense of relief that we all share with the trees, plants, animals and everyone else. I cannot wait to see the wide expansive view of the brown treeline transform into a green canopy once more, eventually to disappear altogether as the foliage expands and once again we are surrounded by green. Oh happy days!
Now all I need is the patience to wait 6 months. But that's another sad story of wishful thinking.
