I drove up the cordillera de balsamo to Comasagua today, to take vitamins and some financial help to Nubia and her family (she's enjoying her new glasses and seeing much better in her schoolroom). Along the way I could already see the changes of the season, new grass growing where there were bare patches before, trees leafing out, men working to unblock the big drains.
People who visit El Salvador in the dry season may wonder about the ditches and enormous drains everywhere. Houses and workplaces and schools here are designed to keep people reasonably dry through the rainy season, to keep the water moving away and down. Now, at the beginning of the season, is the time when everyone discovers which drains are blocked and which roads are going to be flooded - lots of work for the road crews.
When the rains set into their everyday pattern - a torrent in the late afternoon or evening or at night - it will be the time for planting corn and beans in the milpas. Now we're not quite there, but the clouds and winds have brought welcome cooler weather.
I'm especially glad of cooler weather as it's time to pack and move again. Again: it's been quite a pattern in my life! I grew up an Army brat and always hated moving every few years. I was sure I'd just find one place as a grownup and stay there. Not quite! While my brother and sister found their communities (Wenatchee and Edmonds, Washington) and stayed put, I seem to have acquired the entire family's portion of wanderlust. I've moved 36 times so far in my life; Suchitoto will be number 37. Excessive? Yes. But I'm good at packing and unpacking. And I'm looking forward to settling in to 4a Avenida Sur, #2, Barrio Calvario, Suchitoto, Cuscatlan, El Salvador and watching the rains fall into the patio.
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