Here Comes the Rain Again

There are those who say it is always summer in sultry Manila, but in reality it's just warm all year round. There are actually two seasons - scorching and soaking. You know the sweltering summer is at an end when the typhoons start coming, one after the other. There's a respite around Christmastime, when if we're lucky there are crisp mornings and cool nights.

This summer, Little A's first, wasn't too long, thankfully. A year ago, 36 weeks pregnant, we had a proper summer with searing hot days and steamy nights from mid-February to June. I actually looked forward to going to work and got in earlier and left later than I normally would, just because the office air conditioner, normally so cold that it required me to leave a jacket at my desk, kept the temperature just right.

This year, due to climate change, no doubt, summer came later and appears to have left sooner than it normally would. Usually by Easter weekend people had been to the beach and were bronzed and lean. But the weather stayed nice and cool until mid-April, when the heat finally came.

Our electricity bill for the month of April was 50% higher than the previous month's, and apparently this held true for most of the people we knew. It was hot hot hot, and with a toddler who seems to have a perpetually sweaty head (despite his lack of hair) and an apartment that bakes in the afternoon sun, we needed to run the air conditioners nearly the entire day.

It's barely mid-May now, but the worst of the heat seems to be over. The past few days have been overcast or drippy, with slow rain falling all day long. Maybe it's a tropical monsoon and the hot days will be back tomorrow, but maybe it's the rainy season come early. Who knows? Little A seems to enjoy watching the rain and doesn't mind the thunder and lightning. Now if only there was in indoor playground or a covered walkway to play under during the wet days.