Living In A Cloud

For the past two days we have been living in a cloud! Well, at least that's what it's felt like! :) The cause of this has been some unusual weather - unusual at least for South Africa  - and me.
The Summer rains started late this year, but thankfully we've had quite a bit since then. Our "rain" in this part of the country usually means thundershowers of the kind that build up in the heat and then there is something of a cloud-burst with lots of lightening and thunder and sometimes strong winds and hail. When it's all over, the sun comes out again and everything is back to normal and everyone is thankful for the showers. It's not often that we have days of continuous rain.

Rain water pouring down the carport roof like a mini waterfall.

Last weekend, however, it began raining constantly - not the usual thundershower but a quiet, steady rain....and it's hardly stopped since! Then about two afternoons ago the rain changed to a light drizzle and we were shrouded in mist. Now usually when we have mist in the early mornings, it usually clears quite quickly and then the day is very hot. This time the mist just hung there! We live quite high up on a hill  near the edge of a gorge and usually have views for kilometers, well the last couple of days we haven't been able to see past our front gate. I found it very strange, really like being enclosed in a cloud. Even our pets were puzzled at the weather and would stare out the window at the funny sight! :D I suppose this sort of thing is common in many other countries, especially Europe, but I've never experienced this before!

Our cat, Munchkin.

I'm sure it's somehow got something to do with the Leonid meteor shower that happened on the 18th - EVERY time there's a meteor shower, we have strange weather (and miss the "shooting stars", of course!)

Well, this afternoon the mist has finally lifted and although it's still completely overcast and everything is dripping wet, we can see across the gorge again and all the birds and insects are very busy and noisy. The birds are all preening themselves and the bees are visiting the wet flowers.

My reflection (while taking a photo) in a pool of rain water. :)

Here rain is always welcome and it also helps to keep the heat down but the last week and especially the two misty days have made me realise how much we take sunshine and clear weather for granted here in South Africa!

Just for interest:

S.A. is famous for it's sunshine. There are an average of 2993 hours of sunlight per year with an average of 8.2 hours of sunlight per day.

South Africa receives some of the world's best sunshine and experiences some of the highest solar radiation levels in the world .