Before we moved in 2000, my image of Houston, shaped by a few business trips and television news, was one of constant rain. Kind of a southern Vancouver, but with heavy rains instead of drizzle. It turned out to be completely false, that is, until this year. It started to rain in June and it kept raining. In July, with the exception of two days, every day we had at least a long shower and more often a good size down pour. Consequently, we have not even had a chance to go to the beach yet this year. It rained so much that on our last trip to the blueberry plantation we found that most of the blueberries had burst and it took us much longer to pick. But knowing that it was the last trip we stayed longer and filled several buckets and now have a good supply in the freezer.

So what do you do when it rains so often that you cannot really do anything?
(Click on the picture to see it full size, use a back button to return to this spot.) You focus on the small things. One of the side benefits of the rain, is that temperatures have been much milder than usual, hovering between 20 and 30 degrees C and averaging a very comfortable 27. So, in between the rains, conditions are quite nice for walking and I have missed only a few days. Our neighbors take very good care of their front yards (or should I say their Mexican help takes very good care) and so the walks are pleasant. Everything is in bloom, dominated by crepe myrtles and oleanders. Of course you cannot see as many things as you would see during an hour walk in London, but I find enough to amuse myself: houses imitating castles, sidewalks that are purely decorative or just look up at the pine trees and clouds. Our house is limited in terms of plantable land and so most of our limited gardening is in pots and planters. Even so, we were able to add some blooms to the back patio and create a tropical look.

Kumiko is growing a cactus which in English is called Dutchman’s Pipe (much nicer name in Japanese: Lady under the Moon) which has very large flowers. The trick is that each flower lasts only one night and the bloom opens after it gets dark and closes by the morning. She stayed up all night, taking pictures every 30 minutes. I think the cactus must have been quite confused by the time it was over.

Other than that, everything is very quiet. It is so quiet that I have recently been contemplating going over and talking to the local hair removal shop about a sponsorship deal.