Winter is Here

Among all that is going on here - everyday seems to be something new; a problem, an incident, something with my house - one thing that makes me extremely happy is that we seem to have entered the winter season!  Now here the seasons are the dry season and rainy season, but we have just entered that portion of the rainy season where precipitation kicks it up and temperatures drop even more and as a cold and snow loving northerner, I am loving it.

The earlier parts of the rainy season saw your predictable afternoon downpours which normally only last a half hour or so as well as some evening sporadic rains in addition to the slightly lower temperatures.  But now, past the August-September slight break, we are into the latter portion of the rainy season, also coinciding with hurricane season, where rains are picking up in and not just in the late afternoon but around the clock.  Here in Yuscarán at 850-900 meters above sea level and even more so at my house more specifically at 950-1000 meters up, day after day I find myself walking in the clouds.  During the day you can maybe see the imprints of the closest street, buildings, mountain ridge and during the night other than what is directly in front of you, all that is visible are the lights piercing the clouds and fog.  As for the temperatures, I couldn't put a number on it but they are drastically lower and I find myself comfortable at times with a second layer, a fleece or rain jacket, and even in my house (under my metal roof which insulates heat underneath and normally is bothersome) I feel oddly cool.

For me, there are moments when the grey skies, rains, and cooler temperatures feel like up north.  And not just that of the Mid-Atlantic like Philly or DC, but rather of the North Atlantic or Pacific Northwest or even Scandinavia.  It is awesome.  Yet on the other hand, the local Hondurans are into full winter mode, wearing heavy coats and jackets,  ski hats, and other things that in the states we consider winter weather (when winter involves below freezing temperatures and snow, not cool rains).  All in all, the weather is becoming one of the things that does in fact make me happy or excited for what the day should present when I walk out my front door in the morning.

Unfortunately, with the rural/non-3G internet in my small rural town, uploading photos is extremely difficult.  But, I hope to upload a bunch of photos one day when I am in the city.