and yet, it is august

It starts as a general feeling of gloom as I open my eyes and wack the alarm clock on snooze. It is grey and sticky outside, I know it even though the blinds are closed. The clouds are closing in.



And that is what happens later in the day, without fail. A few drops, a tactful warning that in a short moment the skies will open, so please return to your seats and enjoy the show. It's like someone turning the shower on, unlike rain that you usually get in this city. True downpour, banging on the roof of the office so heavily I wait for it to cave in. For a few minutes hardly anything can be seen from the window save for the grey mist of massive raindrops crashing against the building. And in a few minutes it's over. My Pakistani friends grin and say it's just like a monsoon, and makes them feel at home. My Canadian friend walks in, umbrella dripping, non-plussed. I think of cycling back in the monsoon, and sigh.