Exciting gloom

Today is gloomy. It's heavily overcast and when I went out earlier I wondered if I should take an umbrella just in case. It is rainy season. That doesn't, however, mean that it rains every day, in fact it doesn't. I gave this official definition in two years ago in this post:

The rainy season is caused by the collision of cold northerly and warm southerly air masses, which results in a relatively stable bad weather front over the 
Japanese archipelago for several weeks

My indoor garden is looking good in this light.

At that time I also listed several things I really like about rainy season. One of the best is the light, believe it or not. My parents rejoiced at rain (they both grew up on farms), and in dry Australia, gloomy rain-prone weather was not usual, but rejoiced at in our house. I still enjoy it. Even better if it is a day off when I can curl up on my bed with a book.

Something I've realised later in life is that the gloomy light brings out beautiful colours. The greens of leaves are greener and flowers just glow. The hydrangea photo at the top of this page was taken at this time of year. I love blues and greens and they look fabulous on a gloomy day.

The temperature at this time of year is wonderful too, in the high 20s, and pretty stable. The clouds keep the blistering heat at bay just a few weeks longer. Just perfect!

I'm in a good period right now. I'm feeling creative and stimulated, excited about possibilities and new projects. Frustrated that I don't have the time to pursue all the possibilities, but excited nonetheless. 

One of the possibilities is related to the photography course I attended last Saturday, and will continue this Saturday and the next. I felt frustrated on Saturday at the end of the day because I had to leave the camera at school. My slightly sophisticated point-and-shoot just doesn't have much that you can adjust, not like I was learning, and I longed to get my hands back on a fancy camera to take more shots. So I started looking at cameras online. How much could I get for how little?

Unrelated to that was an email sent round on a group email in our mission a couple of weeks ago, it was the offer of a free Nikon DSLR camera to the first respondent. I responded quickly but not quick enough. Then a couple of days ago I heard that the camera was available again as the first person wasn't able to collect it. Wow, all of a sudden I will have a fancy camera (a bit old with some oddities, but still functional). I'm excited and I guess that's shading everything else which seems a little rose-coloured.

So just like the gloomy day makes all the flowers and leaves glow, so my general mood of anticipate and excitement makes life at the moment seem full of possibilities.