Rainy Season

Rainy season!
Sounds pretty bleak doesn’t it? I think of weeks when “seldom is heard an encouraging word and the skies are not sunny all day.” At times a downpour can be incredibly fierce. If you are sleeping it will awaken you. If you are talking, even on the phone, it will drown you out. If you are driving, it will force you to pull off the road. Then, if you are on a dirt road, when the rain lets up you troubles just begin. These rutty, muddy roads can become so unstable it’s like trying to drive on a sheet of ice. In some places even four-wheel-drive vehicles proceed at their own risk.

Walking is no picnic either. Watch out for the misstep. The misstep occurs on a reasonable path that has a soft spot cleverly disguised as solid appearing mud. You think you are safe to put weight on your foot and then...squish! Your shoe goes in up to the ankle in soft, wet, sticky, oozy mud. It feels as squishy as it looks. Eeeeew!

They say you are not really Malawian until you have fallen in the mud. Count me in! Based on my experience I can say with confidence that it is a lot messier to fall down in mud than snow. And it’s lot harder to clean off. On the other hand, I can also confirm that we are totally washable! It's a good thing. Mud stained pants, clay soaked socks, and
dirt caked boots can be cleaned to look perfectly pristine.

Worst of all is the frightening lightening. Early this rainy season both our copy machine and computer were fried by a stealthy strike that virtually came out of the blue. Worse still are the statistics related to the numbers of Malawians who are struck down and killed in a flash every year.

There is a bright side to rainy season. If it doesn’t come too soon or too late, if it doesn’t end too soon or too late, and if it doesn’t come too often or too seldom rainy season is the key to a good harvest. Not only that, after months of dry season; when the dirt roads are turned into dust bowls, the hillsides have become brown, and the air is full of smoke from brush fires; guess what I look forward to? Yes—rainy season! Rainy season brings green hillsides, lush grass, beautiful flowers, and relief from the choking dust of dry season.

But enough already. Rainy season in Mzuzu is slowly winding down. To be honest, I am glad to see it go.