The First Rains and other "hot" topics.

For those of us living here in the tropics, the first rains are always a welcome event. I woke up this morning to the refreshing drizzle of tiny drops out on the balconey and thought: the time has come once again. It's been so long since moisture has collected and dampened the earth and I can almost hear the plants whispering "thank-you" as the dust and dryness is washed away. What we have going on outside is comparable to a city wide greenhouse since the humidity combined with the temperature has literally caused steam to rise from the hot surfaces of roads and sidewalks. Want to test the effectiveness of your new anti-persperant? Try walking any distance in these conditons and you should be soaked right through your shirt in no time. It's great for the plants but rather uncomfortable for humans, so thank goodness for air-conditioning!!!

Good pal Jenny just left for Mississippi for 10 weeks. She's off to get her post graduate degree in Library Science. She'll be living in a dorm and had to take her own sheets, towels, blanket and even a lamp! She said the dorms are like Monk's cells stripped bare for the summer. In light of all this she is still excited about going back to "campus life" and we are all excited for her!

It's getting closer to that time when everyone will begin to drift off to distant lands for the summer and that distinct smell of adventure is in the air as the rains begin to fall once again.