Rainy season joys

It is the fifth season of the year here - Rainy Season. That means it rains a little more often than other times of the year. When we first arrived we couldn't tell the difference, because it rains a lot more in Japan than it does in Australia. It seemed ridiculous to say that this was an official season! However with a few years under our "belts" we can see that it does indeed rain more often in June and early July than it does in the next few months. In fact we rarely see the sun or a blue sky during this season. It doesn't mean that we get thunderstorms, nor that it rains at the same time every day, not even that it rains every day. However it does rain a lot of days.

Looking down onto our backyard hydrangea.

At Sunday School on Sunday the leader asked the kids who likes the Rainy Season. No kids put up their hands. He reminded them that the rain is important for things to grow. He noted that it wasn't easy to play inside so much, but that it was an opportunity to find inside things to do, like play indoor games.

Actually, the climate here forces us indoors far more often than the Australian climate does. It seems to be either rainy or freezing or windy or stinking hot. Not too many "perfect" days out there.

These flowers are across the road from us.

I actually quite like this season. It isn't boiling hot, but not cold either (most of the time). Today I was out and about on my bike doing errands and the sky sprinkled me for most of the time. It wasn't a real problem, though, because the rain was light and the air so sticky that it was quite pleasant to be a little wet. Another thing that is great about this season is the lush foliage. The bright green of spring hasn't faded yet and the frequent precipitation only enhances the plants. And there are some magnificent hydrangeas out there this time of year.