March 4, 2011- Island Style Snowy Weather...

     Last night, I headed out the front door of a friend’s house to watch her precious 3 year old boy ride around in his “car,” but as soon as he jumped in and got ready to drive, I realized it was raining softly through the rays of the setting sun.  Of course, he couldn’t drive an electric open topped vehicle in the rain, so after parking it around back under the patio cover, we headed inside.  I stepped back outside to put the chairs away that I had moved to the front lawn for my friend and I to sit on, and I took a moment to simply watch the amazing sight of rain on the atoll. It comes in all different forms from pelting, diagonal, “soaks you completely in less than a minute,” fat drops to a soft, almost imperceptible sprinkle like the rain tonight.  I have always loved the colors of the atoll at dusk when a brilliant, almost neon green essence shimmers everywhere you look while the sun slowly sinks into the sea behind the native year round flora and fauna, but combined with the light rain of the evening, it was an absolutely stunning sight! As I thought about how I could describe it to you, I realized I didn’t have the words. Even a picture wouldn’t do because you can only see this type of rain in the distance. Close up, it

disappears before your eyes, and you only KNOW it’s raining if you actually step out in it or watch the light gray asphalt of the roads turn black with wetness, things which only the very best of cameras would pick up, if at all.  All that came to mind for me is that it’s like a tropical version of a light snow fall.  You know how stunning the world looks when you wake up to a fresh blanket of snow, before the tracks of feet, machines, and the dirt underneath have smudged it?  Well, that’s what it reminded me of, the untouched beauty of nature at work with the play of sunlight and warm, liquidy “snow” making the island around us even more green and shimmery as it feeds the roots of plants, trees, and the soil.  The sunset shining through the rain was definitely the best part.  That’s where you could really see the direction and lightness of the rain as the sun’s rays reflected off of the tiny droplets of water descending from the quickly moving clouds passing over us. We may not have “seasons” per say on the atoll, but the island still takes on a slightly different look and feel during the rainy, windy, dry, and doldrum periods of the year.  It may not be as obvious a change as the leaves turning in Autumn or snow falling in winter elsewhere in the world, but it is our version of “island seasons,” and if you stop long enough to notice, you’ll discover the unique characteristics of an island style fall, winter, spring, and summer and be glad you took the time to “smell the ocean,” so to speak.