Independence and RAIN!

Ask a Zambian about when the rainy season will start and they will invariably say "It can't rain before Oct 24 (Independence Day)!" And it really doesn't rain from sometime in April or May until the last week of October. But this weekend we celebrated Zambian Independence with a braii at some friend's house and sure enough, two days later - RAIN! Now being from the PNW you either love the rain (if you're a weirdo)or hate it. I'm a hater. I have not missed the rain at all. But sure was awesome to get a few minutes of heavy sprinkles. Out at Ciyanjano the wind started whipping the elephant grass all over the place and a huge cloud of dust boiled off the road and blew through the property. The sky got black and then huge drops soaked us. Back at home we had another 4 minutes of rain as well. Just enough to drop the temperature 20 degrees. Thank God for the rains. They will bring a tropical lushness to the city and cooling from the summer heat. But they will also bring mosquitoes (and malaria), mud and cholera. Pray for Lusaka as the rains begin! Even if it takes another month or two for the real rains to start.