Why is rain the protagonist of this brief Wednesday story? Well, if you're from the tropics, as I am, you'll know that the coldest and most marked seasons are almost non-existent, subtly perceptible... Which means that heat is the rule and not the exception; let alone dividing the weather into cycles. At least, in Venezuela, the changes between months vary very little... Although we are geographically located in the Northern Hemisphere, it is no less true that we are really close to the Equator, which means that the Sun's rays are the absolute law...
And this is relevant because last year, and the year before that, were incredibly hot. This year, 2024, has been a little more generous in that respect. The rainy days are giving way to more pleasant temperatures and less of a stifling sensation. What does not leave us is the humidity associated with the heat of the sun on the asphalt of the city... Only the autumn rain makes that heaviness that we feel and that makes us sweat disappear... Bringing with it cooler nights and a more pleasant thermal sensation... However, this brief preamble only serves to explain in general terms how the weather works in my city and in my country.
Now, in order to understand why ‘a few drops of autumn rain’ changes everything, you have to understand my last week... Full of suffocating heat. Although the thermometer did not exceed a maximum of 36 degrees, the few rains of the last few weeks and the arrival of the Sahara Dust (another phenomenon that occurs frequently in the tropics) had taken their toll. The days are beginning to be shorter than the nights, due to the onset of autumn. A few leaves from some trees are falling and accumulating on the ground, but the feeling of the impending cold is far from being a reality.
This, coupled with the fact that chance is almost always my greatest witness, has meant that when yesterday's downpour fell over part of the city, I didn't take the slightest precaution... I left the house to do some brief shopping, not particularly far from home, but I had a considerable distance to walk.... The sun, assiduous and almost permanent ‘companion’, was there, where it usually is. I had with me, only my dark glasses and a medium-sized backpack so that I didn't have to carry the shopping in my hands, and my eternal companion: my mobile phone. Suddenly, I went into a shop, distracted myself by eating a piece of cake and a small coffee; no more than 15 or 20 minutes, and when I came out, the atmosphere, that is to say, the colour of the day had changed: suddenly, everything had turned a penetrating blue...
Astonished, I look up at the sky and see clouds of impending rain on the horizon.... I am in a dilemma: ‘Do I go home empty-handed, or do I risk doing what I have to do but with a very high chance of getting wet because of the impending rain? Oh, the doubts... They run through my mind, but I decide to go on with what I had already planned.... I'm not more than 5 minutes away from the place where I have to go to buy what I need, and suddenly I feel the cold drops of rain... I don't know why, but all human beings, when they feel rush and pressure (remember, I didn't want to get wet), speed up their pace...
Typically, this technique works. Walking faster helps you get to the place you want to go, but in the rain the opposite happens. The faster you walk, the wetter you get... And since I really didn't want to get my mobile phone or the electric keys to my gate wet, I stayed in a humble shop selling cold coconuts. The downpour lasted about 15 continuous minutes... Cold and intense rain that surprised everyone. The wind also accompanied this natural phenomenon and the intense yellow light of the sun simply gave way to a strong blue blanket that was irresistible not to photograph. Everyday life in blue, with blues in the background from the coconut tent, and feet soaked in water that we all needed to improve the heat but no one was prepared to receive. And so, an ordinary walk, and without apparent importance, was transformed into this post and these photos... Blue, drops, heat and rain.... Oh yes.
