Canada has two seasons: Winter, which lasts for 8-9 months; and construction. We get heat here, God knows; but it never lasts very long. I never realized how much precipitation Ottawa gets (around five feet or so a year minimum in snow alone if I remember correctly). It seems like every time it gets really hot and sunny for a couple of days, in come the summer showers. Last night we got something that's really rare--something I've really missed ever since leaving Louisisana--a summer thunderstorm.
I remember those amazing, drenching summer showers that we got every day in Louisiana. When the temperature hit 100+, in came the violent afternoon thunderstorm that would drench you in five seconds flat. It was always during summer school at college when it happened. I'd get out of my last afternoon class, and the bottom would fall out. People would be running to and fro trying to get out of the rain. I never carried an umbrella, and trying not to get wet was completely futile. So, I'd just pack up my bookbag and walk leisurely to my car in the blinding rain. Running was useless and (for a klutz like me) dangerous; so I just took it all in stride. I'd always get home and take a nap during those storms. I still feel like I sleep the best during a summer thunderstorm, my bedroom ice cold and my sheets so soft and cozy. I don't ever get to see storms like that anymore. Even storms like last night are over way too quickly and not nearly as loud and rumbling as what I grew up with.
Ecuador has two seasons: hot and hot and rainy. It rains for about three months out of the year and then stops--I mean not a drop falls--for the rest of the year. I'll never understand how that can be and the place be so green. I used to marvel at how fast the "jungle" would take back a piece of abandoned property. In less than two months, a cleared lot would be covered in plants, vines, and iguanas. It's amazing (and very succinctly put in "Jurassic Park") that life finds a way no matter what.
I miss having actual seasons in Louisiana. You get everything: rain, sun, heat, cool, and--once a decade or so--a little powdering of snow. It's so funny that my "winter" coat that (finally fits again!) I brought from Louisiana is, at most, an early fall jacket here in Canada. I didn't believe my co-workers when they said that Labor Day would be the last warm weekend in Ottawa before the fall/winter started and that we'd have the first snow by Halloween. I should have listened and enjoyed the sun while I could because, sure enough, out came the coat a few days after Labor Day. And trick-or-treating was a slippery, slushy affair. I have sworn to myself that I am going to embrace the summer this year and not let sweat get in the way of it this time!!
I remember those amazing, drenching summer showers that we got every day in Louisiana. When the temperature hit 100+, in came the violent afternoon thunderstorm that would drench you in five seconds flat. It was always during summer school at college when it happened. I'd get out of my last afternoon class, and the bottom would fall out. People would be running to and fro trying to get out of the rain. I never carried an umbrella, and trying not to get wet was completely futile. So, I'd just pack up my bookbag and walk leisurely to my car in the blinding rain. Running was useless and (for a klutz like me) dangerous; so I just took it all in stride. I'd always get home and take a nap during those storms. I still feel like I sleep the best during a summer thunderstorm, my bedroom ice cold and my sheets so soft and cozy. I don't ever get to see storms like that anymore. Even storms like last night are over way too quickly and not nearly as loud and rumbling as what I grew up with.
Ecuador has two seasons: hot and hot and rainy. It rains for about three months out of the year and then stops--I mean not a drop falls--for the rest of the year. I'll never understand how that can be and the place be so green. I used to marvel at how fast the "jungle" would take back a piece of abandoned property. In less than two months, a cleared lot would be covered in plants, vines, and iguanas. It's amazing (and very succinctly put in "Jurassic Park") that life finds a way no matter what.
I miss having actual seasons in Louisiana. You get everything: rain, sun, heat, cool, and--once a decade or so--a little powdering of snow. It's so funny that my "winter" coat that (finally fits again!) I brought from Louisiana is, at most, an early fall jacket here in Canada. I didn't believe my co-workers when they said that Labor Day would be the last warm weekend in Ottawa before the fall/winter started and that we'd have the first snow by Halloween. I should have listened and enjoyed the sun while I could because, sure enough, out came the coat a few days after Labor Day. And trick-or-treating was a slippery, slushy affair. I have sworn to myself that I am going to embrace the summer this year and not let sweat get in the way of it this time!!
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