A Humid Day

We had a pleasant garden at the back of our bungalow in Jamaica. Not only were we able to grow our own fruit and vegetables but there were also pawpaw, banana and mango trees. The mangos served a dual purpose, giving some very good fruit and plenty of deep shade.

I was finished in school by 1.30pm having started before seven, so we - picture shows Elizabeth and Gill with the bump that was Katy - would relax in the coolness of the garden through the heat of the day. I'm not very good at doing nothing so one way I whiled away my time was to sit under one of the mangoes and read. We were fortunate that Kingston had an excellent public library which seemed, in the history section, to specialise in America's war in the Pacific, so I became quite an expert on battles such as the Coral Sea, Midway and Guadalcanal.

I wasn't the only one who found time hanging on his hands. Rick, the Art teacher who lived with his family in number 3, also had to be up and doing things, so I recall one day when Rick and I went round and painted all the gate posts, each house with different colours.

All this came to mind as we sat in our garden today in what, by English standards, is the fairly high temperature of 28C in the shade. But, as in Jamaica, it's the humidity which makes a day seem hot and muggy, and today is humid. There have been other similarities to Jamaica. Three times it has started to rain, big drops splashing on the paving stones, only for it to stop as suddenly as it started.

Not that we're in need of rain. We had a terrific thunderstorm last night which has made up for weeks of semi-drought and there's more forecast for the next few days.