RAIN, RAIN, RAIN!

“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.” - Langston Hughes

I was in Adelaide for the day for work today and it was a beautiful day weather-wise, although I saw remarkably little of it, being ensconced in meeting rooms all day. It was a full day as we were being audited and the panel was an interesting mix of people. There was one slightly problematic member, but he made the discussions lively and interesting. The good thing was that all went well and we passed the audit.

As soon as the plane landed in Melbourne on my return, the rain started to pelt down and we had very significant falls last night, with some flash flooding again in some parts of Melbourne. The climate has been subtropical this summer and the warm humid conditions have affected all sorts of things, including the vegetation, crops, insect numbers, infrastructure, people’s ability to carry on with normal activities, get to work, etc. The flash flooding in even some of the metropolitan areas has seriously disrupted everyday life and has caused lots of damage.

Climate variation is something that occurs routinely and we have to learn to not only live with it, but also be more proactive in planning for this variation. Changing the way that we construct our dwellings, being more prudent when choosing the geographical locations where we develop our housing and being more aware of sustainable and environmentally-friendly ways of utilising the technology available so that we work with climate variation pro-actively, rather than reactively.

Climate variation will almost certainly affect not only the ways that we produce our food, but also may fundamentally change the very components of our diet. Already there is much talk of utlising non-standard, but highly nutritious, food sources such as earthworms and insects for example. Most people would find these items revolting if they are on a menu, but the less prejudiced and more open-minded children that were given food prepared from such sources were delighted with these meals.

Nevertheless, last night I enjoyed the sound of the rain falling and once again felt fortunate to be safe, warm and dry in our home. That is a luxury that many humans on this earth do not have.

Quite apt this choice today, then, for Poetry Wednesday:

Rain In Summer

How beautiful is the rain!
After the dust and heat,
In the broad and fiery street,
In the narrow lane,
How beautiful is the rain!

How it clatters along the roofs
Like the tramp of hoofs!
How it gushes and struggles out
From the throat of the overflowing spout!

Across the window-pane
It pours and pours;
And swift and wide,
With a muddy tide,
Like a river down the gutter roars
The rain, the welcome rain!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)