May (and sometimes April and June, too) is our rainy season here in San Miguel. And it hasn't disappointed this year. At first we really knew it was here because we got the dregs of Hurricane Christina from off the western coast of Mexico. Lots of thunder and lightning - it sounded as if Peter Stuyvesant's crew was at nine pins again. Rolling thunder and appropriate flashes of lightning, some rather close judging from the CRASHES we both heard and saw simultaneously!
After a few days the rain cleared out, sunshine in abundance was again present, and we could sleep through the night - except for the heat. Out came the fan! Gotta say that for the altitude: when it's sunny you know it. Walking into town we almost always head for the shady side of the street, unless it's already crowded with other folks walking. If it's too crowded we put up with a bit of sun.
Never noticed a place where there was so much difference between sun and shade. It may be quite hot in the sun, but you walk into a shady patch and it's instantly cooler. Guess the sun doesn't heat up the atmosphere easily, just what it falls upon. [Note to self - Think about shade for the roof-top terrace, especially over the master bedroom....]
But it was obvious the rainy season was really upon us when it began to rain again. This time it was daily and mostly later afternoon and evening. There were a few days when it really poured for most of each day but it's now settled into the more traditional pattern.
Michael mentioned that the city workers were out in force a couple of days ago after a particularly long rain, scooping up the mud that had flowed down the libramiento and settled in the glorieta, making traffic rather dicey.
The house is holding up to the onslaught pretty well. What should you expect from a concrete house? Only leaks wherever there's an opening! If the winds blow from the west there is a certain amount of water that's blown under the threshold of the roof-top door that drips down the stairs. We have one of those cute stuffed fabric snakes to cure that, but there's sometimes a bit of leakage from around the windows surrounding the door. Guess it's time to get a new tube of silicone from Mega and attack those panes. At least we don't have the leaking skylights like our first house (which we stopped leaking into our computer room with said tube of silicone).
One of the members of our Wednesday morning koffee klatch is looking after a house and renting it out for a friend. Since he's an American he's tackling the leaking skylight/windows problems himself. If you landlord were Mexican, the renter would be fixing it himself; it's as if you owned the house. The only time we called a landlord was with the house before this one (it was recently built) and we let the landlord know when the water heater leaked into the walls. Otherwise, we fix things ourselves or call a maintenance guy. Julian is our friend!
Our first house has recently come up on the market at a reasonable price. I would have tried to work out something with the owner if it only had a garden for the dogs. Heck, we would have stayed there if it had the garden. That was the primary reason we moved away - and the band next door who practiced and practiced and practiced! Maybe they're better by now - or moved away.
The more usual pattern of rainfall does make it easy to fall asleep to the gentle patter of raindrops - though I do miss some of the thunder and lightning. The dogs do not agree....
Addendum -- Yesterday (June 30th) we had a storm that was pretty strong where we live, but even more rain was dumped in Centro. Here are some pictures that were published on Facebook. The first is of rainwater cascading down the steps at one corner of the Jardin (the central garden stop in Centro, opposite the Parrochia church); the Jardin is level at the Parrochia side but, like most things in San Miguel, is built on a hill; the second picture is of the corner opposite those steps where the local (and only) Starbucks is located. We frequently are seated in the window to the left of the waders.
Next time - our new estufa de piso -- that's 'range' to you!
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