Weather!

Mention the word 'weather' and people immediately start thinking of England! Rain and lack of sun become important issues, and even now when I chat to my children the question "What's your weather like?" always pops into the conversation! Before we moved to the coast, the only time weather was of a concern was when I was teaching! Then, I would pray for a dry day if I was on playground duty, or a wet day if I was refereeing a soccer match after school and we could go home early! Then, when we moved to the coast, we swapped the hot wet summers and cold dry winters of the Highveld, for the hot dry summers and cold wet winters of the Cape West coast! Our summer evenings linger until gone 9 o'clock and I forget to cook, while in winter it is dark by 5.30 and we have the log fire warming the house and the kettle whistling while the soup or potjie (stew) bubbles away for our supper.

Today we have had all four seasons in one! We woke to mist, gloomy and damp, rain followed, and now as I write this, the sky is blue, the sun is shining and the breeze is tickling the wild flowers

A sunny winter morning

I have never been as aware of weather as I am here. We drive past wheat fields on the way to town, we see the wheat change from small green shoots to a tall ripe and ready-to-harvest crop. We see the cows and horses grow their 'winter woolies'. We compare rainfall figures with our neighbours (yes, we have a rain gauge and write every reading into our 'Book of Days'), we squint into the sky and shake our heads at the plight of the farmers, we smell the air for the hint of a whiff from Seal Island which means the North Wester is blowing and there is a good chance of rain.

A misty moisty morning!

The sea takes on a different sound and colour as the weather changes. A flat turquoise sea with a cerulean blue sky can become a steely grey mass of pounding waves against an almost indigo sky, and I love every different mood of it.

A grey, wet winter's day!

The wind can howl, the rain can pour, and then, just like that, we have a rainbow as an apology!

The rainbow's end!

Or a sunset that makes your eyes water!

The end of another perfect day!

Beautiful, isn't it?