HOT! (Mainit)

SO HOT!!

The month of May has arrived and brought the heat.  May is the hottest month of the year here in the Cagayan Valley, and this year is much hotter than I remember last year.  Our poor air conditioners can hardly keep up.  Every time I step out the door, the heat hits like a great weight, and my knees buckle.  The skies are blue and the sun blazes down to cook us.  It was 38C today, but when you add humidity, I think it felt more like 50C (122F). (The complete opposite of wind chill!). Wearing of masks and face shields is just plain torture.

It is still very green here, but anywhere that is not watered soon becomes parched and burnt from the sun.  Many farmers let the fields sit for these hot months, unless they have their own pump for watering.  One type of tree drops its leaves (I think it is just like our trees dropping their leaves in the Fall).

Hardly anyone stands out in the hot sun without covering their head.  Many will use a towel or a shirt pulled over their head for a hat.  Everyone gathers wherever they can find shade.  People arise early and get working here in the Philippines, I think mostly to get started before the heat arrives with a vengeance. Luckily we only get around 13 hours of sunlight every day, so the nights are long, and there is relief.  And the sunsets here are amazing! (photo credit: Brix Sobremonte)

Before leaving Canada, I never thought of using an umbrella for anything other than to keep the rain off, but I have grown to love my umbrella as shade from the sun.  In the first few months we were here, I purchased an umbrella with a UV lining.  It is a great shield from the sun and I feel a marked cooling when I use it.  I love my umbrella, and use it whenever I am out.

I have been thinking about shade, the shade a tree or my umbrella provide, and the great blessing they are.  I remembered that God provided shade for the Children of Israel as they were led out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.  "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way;".  When I think of an endless blue sky, with a single cloud to lead them,  I have realized that the cloud not only led the way, provided shade from the heat of the desert.  Another way that the Lord watched over His children in love, and reminded them daily that He was there and watching over them. 

A blessing of the hot weather is that mango and pineapple season are upon us, and we are feasting upon them daily!  The fruit stands are starting to have tables and tables of them, and the price is going down.  We can feast on them to our heart's content.  We have now learned which trees are mango trees and I love playing "Eye Spy" to see if I can see any of this amazing fruit hanging from their limbs.  Wouldn't it be lovely if we could bring a tree back with us when we came home?  

But alas, some things will just have to live on in memory!

And for any of you that have been reading our blog for awhile, the birds came back this year, and built another nest.  I didn't pay as much attention, because I was still mad at them for abandoning their egg last time.  But this time, there were two eggs, and they both hatched!  It was great fun to watch the babies grow and learn to fly.  And I got a great picture!