monsoon time

I think we are in the thick of it. It started about a month ago and is pretty wild! Sometimes it rains bucketfuls for hours all of a sudden, and then stops and the blue sky returns and a few days of sunshine and it is hard to remember it was any different a few days earlier. Even when it does rain, and everything is overflowing with water, a few hours later, you would never know it rained. No mud or puddles or anything.

The kids and I had discovered a "river" near the house. It was as wide as a two lane highway, and had been created for the heavy rainfall that comes down from the mountains to the sea, in the rainy season. The reinforced high stone walls seemed a bit "overdone" in my opinion, since I had only seen it dry most of the year. But a few weeks ago there was a nice flowing river there and we started to go there to play n the calf deep water among the rocks. It was fun, other than the first time when the 4 year old got swept off with the fast flow and I went running after him and thank god, caught him holding onto a big boulder. After that we were more careful. And after many playful days there, we took a walk up the river one afternoon and discovered that all of the rubbish from kilometers away, is thrown there and we just happened to be playing in a clean place, but in fact, better we stop and continue going to the sea instead, since the same pollution is distributed in the whole sea, instead of just the river.

Today it rained from midnight for almost 24 hours straight. The older daughter returned from school and excitedly told me that as she passed the river on her motorbike she was amazed that the water is so high, but she didn't want to look in case she has an accident. I excitedly suggested we take a walk over there, in the rain, and see it close up. So off we went, with raincoats or umbrellas, along with the rest of the family to see the sight. As we walked the 250 meters to it, we walked through the flooded new road and the fast flowing cannels on the sides of it. But when we arrived to the river we were not prepared for the amazing quantity and intensity of it. Real white water rafting right here in tejakula!

Instead of the usual narrow, shallow, flowing river, the whole width was bursting with huge quantities of fast flowing deep water that reached midway up the sides. I now realized why they built such high sides to it. The rumbling we were hearing was not the thunder, but huge boulders being swept along in the fast flow and tumbling against other rocks along the way. Seeing mother nature like this is a real adrenalin rush for me. I love it. The family had seen enough, but I wanted more, and as they returned home, I walked further down to the sea in order to watch how this huge quantity of rainwater looks as it enters the sea.

Just before reaching the sea, the road was already in water up to my ankles as was the forest next to it. Watching the fast flowing river enter the sea was a surprise for me and a bit anti- climatic. Here was this huge sea, heaving its' waves in a kind of universal breath, and the fast flowing river just kind of relaxed into it and became one with the great sea, no longer with its' own unique power and force.

After watching it for a while, I started to walk back at twilight along the river in the rain. I saw I was not the only person interested in seeing this amazing sight. Opposite me came a man with his umbrella. As we passed each other, we smiled and said hello. I giggled to myself how funny he looked, with his umbrella and wearing only underpants! He probably thought he was all alone on the road and just left his house in the forest for a moment to get a look at the river. But a moment later, I looked down at my soaking wet sarong and blouse and laughed even harder! I am the one that looks funny walking around in this weather in soaking wet clothes and an umbrella, instead of just wearing a pair of underpants!