Rain?!

Wet day

The morning was utterly unbelievable .... It rained. Not drizzle but actually rained hard. The sky was terribly dark and it was 9 degrees. Suddenly everyone was back in winter clothing ... down jackets, beanies and hoodies. Even heaters were turned on in many places. I had to wait for a break in the rain to rush up to the other library to get some paper work done ... then wait for another break to rush home 3 hours later.

It's surprising it rained ... though not surprising. The 50 days between Passover and Pentecost is a time of weather extremes, strong desert winds called hamsin alternating with mild weather, stormy weather mixed with hot sunny days. The crops that are flowering or fruiting during this time are always at the mercy of the weather. Too much rain and all the pollen will be washed away. No wind and the flowers cannot be pollinated. Too much sun and the young fruit wither. No sun and the wheat cannot ripen. It's this delicate yet uncontrollable power of the weather that caused ancient peoples in our region to pray to the weather god Baal.

It was just as well that it rained all day. Other than the 3 hour rush to finish paper work in the other library, I locked myself in the room to finish at least correcting one chapter of the many theses and articles assigned to me. It is extremely tiring not just for the eyes but also for the mind. I usually would need a long walk to cool the brains but yesterday with the rain I had no choice but stay in my room. Looks like the weather is forcing me to finish correcting the scripts.