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| Sint Maarten in January 2011 |
Today is the third day of school and I have not been called in to teach. As I am an occasional teacher, I realize that the first few weeks are going to be slow and that I must be patient. Today I am thinking about the past three school years when both my husband and I were fortunate to teach in warmer climates. We spent two years in Cairo, Egypt and one year in Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten. This is the first September since 2008 where we have been able to talk about the weather, Canadian style. And it is refreshing.
The director of education said to us upon our arrival in Egypt, "I can tell you the weather for the next 365 days-sunny and hot." He was right. We never felt the necessity to talk about the weather, because it was always the same- sunny, hot and dry.
Living in the hot and humid Caribbean was a quite different. I remember sweating from August through October, battening down for Hurricane Earl in late August, enjoying the trade winds throughout the winter months, and then sweating again come May and June. We never considered wearing a jacket or sweater, it was that warm.
That brings me to this week. It has been cloudy, windy and cool for three days in a row. There has been some much needed rain and believe it our not, some of the maple trees are changing colour. The sumac trees are bright red. The yellow poplar leaves have blown to the ground. Acorns abound and consequently there are little black squirrels running across the roads, getting ready for winter.
For my daily walks with the dogs I have worn long pants, fleecy sweaters and a rain coat. Yesterday the neighbours were burning leaves with the resultant autumn smell of smoke in the air.
I feel so fortunate. There is absolutely no place like home and I am free once again to talk about the weather!
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| Silvery Lane in September 2011 |
Don't forget, wherever you are,
Bee Rich
