September
Some rainy days in Jos are like this. . .
The type of rain that falls in the first “ember” month comes shrouded in mystery. Like a mysterious woman — one minute you are sure what she will do and the next minute, she does the opposite.
Will it rain? Will it shine?
Will the clouds hang low over our heads to kiss flower petals and add moisture to the grass the cows chew with brute enjoyment? Or will the sun shine high and the birds sing loudly, preening their feathers and stealing carefully tended fruit from people’s houses?
On the last days of the first ember month, when it is nearly at its end, you will wake up unsure of what the beguiling heaven has for you. Today’s guess is “cloudy but no rain” and it is on this day that the rain crashes down, heavy on your roof and then slowly, gently, evenly — for the whole day.
Will this rain ever end?
Surely, it must — everything does.
And so, it finally stops. Your mysterious woman has calmed down and she reveals her bright watercolour sky. The clouds softly sing with a voice, light as a feather and the trees sway. She is apologizing for keeping you cooped up inside all day. She is telling the birds that they can come out of hiding, she is telling the ground that it has had its fill of her and must wait, till she comes again.
Yes, it’s a beautiful evening. The type of evening that means it will be sunny the next morning. So, you go to bed with sleepy thoughts of activities put on hold and rescheduled for the next day. The sweet rhythm of sleep has arrived. Rocking you gently, swaying you. . . sway, sway, sway away — till you are stopped by something abrupt, falling heavy on your roof.
Wait. . . is it raining again!?
