And So It Begins

Hello all,

The rainy season is upon us. It came suddenly on Saturday, raining most of the day with a sunny couple of hours around noon. Saturday night brought heavy rain--all night. The rain continued with no sign of the sun on the Master's Day. Sunday night and Monday have been almost non-stop heavy rain. Duc tells me that the rain has been heavier than normal so far. The words "monsoon" and "torrential" are appropriate. Water is standing in the street at low places.

The rain (and lack of sunshine) poses two interesting challenges. The first is getting a taxi. As you can imagine, they are in much greater demand when it rains. Sometimes we have called for a taxi during a shower only to be told that they are too busy and will not take any more requests. The prospect of being "all dressed up with no place to go" from home is frustrating. The thought of being stranded at Big C with a cart of groceries and children does not sound like fun. But, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we are enjoying the cooler temperatures, and playdates in the rain!

The second challenge is getting our laundry dry. Hmmm, now that is going to be interesting. We have a small covered area where we can hang clothes on the "laundry porch." Right now, it is a pole suspended on two ribbons that are tied to rafters of the porch roof. When Tony returns, he will bring a large fan to the third floor. The extra wind should help with the clothes.

The rain has little effect on the traffic--motorbikes and bicycles have kept the street busy today. Most people wear plastic rain ponchos--some are soaked to the skin in their street clothes. The next 2-3 months will be a new experience for us--Duc tells me that sometimes they do not see the sun for over a month at a time. We may have to learn the hymn "Showers of Blessing" in school. :)

Even though the weather is so different here, I have decorated our school room with paper leaves of fall colors. Each month I am putting a "quotable quote" up on the wall, that is related to the month or season. These are "Mom's Maxims." I finished October's today....it is a picture of a tree, bent in the wind, with leaves flying in every direction. The quote says, "When you feel like you are losing your grip...Fall on Jesus!"

Grace and peace!