Changing of the Seasons

It's December in Panama.  Outside, it's raining.  A light, soft rain that I am pretending is snow as I watch our Christmas tree lights.

It's been raining for a week straight, day and night.  As Christmas comes closer, we are waiting for dry season to start. While in the northern parts winter is officially beginning, our "summer" is on the way.  When we feel those warm breezes and clear skies, it finally feels like Christmas time.

Unlike the coming of a northern winter, dry season here comes quickly, almost suddenly.  Today it is raining, but tomorrow it may stop.  We may wake to see clear skies, and not another rain drop for months. In a country that must give up 9 months of the year to rainy season, we cherish those short, dry months.

The countryside changes.  Trees, suddenly dry, lose their leaves, making dry season here feel like summer and fall rolled into one.  Grass and many plants die out, shocked by the sudden dryness.  Flowers bloom.  A good time for "spring" cleaning.

Now, as I look outside, the grass is taking over the grounds.  The countryside is so green that sometimes it hurts to look at it.  Impossibly lush.  The jungle out behind our house is constantly trying to take over our yard.

Princess, who will be starting preschool at home soon, will be learning about weather. I printed out a cute little weather chart that she can mark each day: sunny, rainy, cloudy, or snowy.  Only here, we won't ever use the snowy one.  Snow is only something she sees in movies or books.  She played  in snow when she was a baby, during a visit back to Oregon. 

Days like today, in the mid 70's, are as cold as it gets.  I put pants and socks on today, feeling chilly after hard rains, and breezes all night.  The windows are all open, as they remain every day.  The temperature changes more from day to night here, then from one time of year to another.

Here in the tropics, we are waiting for "summer".  Summer means Christmas, school getting out for the year, going to the beach, and painting your house.  And hanging your clothes on the line with no worries of rain.  I am ready.