Letter 12 / 3 / 83
Its so WET here. The wet season has truly arrived at last. It has rained continuously for about four days and nights now. Anywhere else in the world we would be under about four feet of water by now. Fortunately the "soil" around her is so gravelly it all just keeps draining away. The other night we are told we had a mere 7 1/2 inches - I think last night would have beaten that. It would get boring except it manages to vary between heavy, very heavy, and camels and buffalos falling out of the sky ... with or without thunder and lightning. Most of the thunder comes at night - not only does it terrify James so we have to bring him in with us, but its just not possible to sleep with an express train roaring through your bedroom (not like these quiet steamrollers that creep across your mattress...in the adverts).
The boys (James, and Nathan from next door) love the water, of course. As long as its not actually cameling and buffaloing (which would hammer the little tikes into the ground) they run around out there and 'swim' in the drain. Actually you can practically swim on the 'lawn' too, and they love the 'splat! splat!' sound and feel as their little feet sink ankle-deep in watery grass. The 'drain' is just a wide, shallow, long indent by the road - not like the
