This has been the wettest summer that I have experienced here on Maui. Last week had made me think that the rain was over and that we were dropping into a drier month or so. This weekend would suggest otherwise.
However, even this has to be said with some context. We live in one of the wetter parts of the island. Though summers can be dry here, if there is going to be a lot of rain, likely as not it will be in this north east corner. Not that I am complaining though. Parts of Maui are a dust bowl at the moment, with very little rainfall. For a small island, the micro climates are many. Occasionally the island is socked in with a rain cloud hanging over the whole landmass, but more often than not it is just one or two of those micro climates, ours being one of them.
I appreciate the rain for the variance in weather, for the lushness it brings to our lived environment, the food that we can grow, the abundance of water (a hosepipe ban can be in effect elsewhere while we are watering the garden), and dare I say it in this age - the added protection from wildfires.
So I sit outside, undercover, writing this this evening, another scrawl passing through. The sound of water trickling down the down pipes, the wind bringing a chill to the air, and gratitude in my heart for the rain.