What is that pitter patter sound?

It's not the sound of reindeer on our roof. It's not the sound of small children at play. So, knowing what time of year it is, it must be rain! Yes, rain. Days and days and days of rain.

Usually we gauge the start of our "rainy" season to arrive on or about Oct. 15th (give or take a week or so). This year the rain started the first of October and has been a constant in our lives since then. My husband made the comment in September that we were behind on rainfall for this year but he was sure we would make up for it in the winter! He was right.

Clouds, gloomy sky and lots and lots of rain. For the most part it doesn't bother me except that I cannot get out to work in my garden. I mean all you do is slosh around in mud doing the old "slip and slide". If you dig up the ground to plant, everything sticks to your shovel or garden tool and you end up taking a mud bath.

I can't do laundry for two reasons: 1) our solar panel is not gathering any electrical current from the sun and 2) I cannot hang my laundry in the backyard to dry because A) its too darn muddy and B) it will never dry but constantly be in the rinse cycle. Oh, my husband strung clothesline on the front porch but it takes almost 3 days to dry in this weather!

We have miniature waterfalls on the side of the house; water cascading down the steps. We have miniature waterfalls in the front cascading down the hill to the sea and we have small torrents racing down the hill in the back to add to the waterfalls on the side and in the front. Water, water everywhere.

But, this is the rainy season. So, I just retire to my sewing room and work on projects I've put off in the past. Right now I'm working on Christmas presents. Of course I cannot iron because that takes energy that the solar panel cannot provide. But, when my husband is forced to turn on the generator you can bet that the first thing I do is turn the iron on to catch up on ironing projects that currently need sewing!

We generally average about 110 to 120 inches of rain a year. Several years ago, in one day, we had 7 inches of the wet stuff and we thought that was a lot. Not! In December, about two years ago, we had 36 inches in one day and my husband quite emptying the rain gauge when he went to bed!

We get a lot of rain in December and usually you can count on going to your Christmas dinner at a friend's house in the pouring rain. In ten years here we have had two sunny days on December 25th. One was after it rained in the morning and the other was sunny all day except it rained in the evening when we got home. When you go to a party here - you take a change of clothes and a big box to keep things dry on the boat!

Speaking of our boat - it is now tied up firmly to the dock bracing against the seas that are rolling in. Most of the year the seas run out of the East; during the winter they switch and are out of the West. From the East we get plastic bags, pampers, coke bottles, etc., From the West we get seaweed, tree trunks, pieces of wood, parts of ships, etc. It's unusual to have thunder during the winter months, but for some reason this year we are having thunder storms. Since I'm not much up on what causes weather fronts, storms, etc., I have no idea if the fact that we have thunder means the temperature is warm enough to cause the occurrence of thunder. Whatever it is - we have it.

So, one can curl up with a good book, take up projects that have been shelved, take a lot of naps, or write in one's blog!