Summer Is Over. Or Is It?

By 'eck it rained on Saturday night. It absolutely blooming threw it down. I was staying up late, watching a certain Mr Schwarzenegger kill a particularly nasty alien Predator, when I nodded off on the sofa, like you do when you're watching a film that you've seen at least 4 or 5 times before. And then I woke up. At first I wasn't exactly sure what was happening, like you don't when you are woken up suddenly by a strange noise outside. The television was proudly displaying the words "Sem Sinal" in the middle of the screen, indicating that it was, as the message says, "Without Signal." This was the final clue that I needed to understand what was happening through my dozy haze. No signal on the telly. It must be raining. Anyone who lives here and has a massive dish on the roof for receiving foreign telly (or has been reading my blog from the start and paying attention) will tell you that you can't watch the satellite telly when it's raining.

It was a massive release. Quite literally in that the heavens had opened in a most dramatic way, but also in a more figurative fashion too. Having not had any rain since May, it was as if the very Earth itself was breathing a sigh of relief to feel the moisture in it's soil. As the torrent came down I stood with the patio doors open, looking on, watching the dry dust from between the cobbles being thrown up into the air a couple of inches due to the sheer force of the rain hitting the floor. I stood there for about five or maybe ten minutes, watching and listening to the rain. Standing there in awe, like a person who'd never seen rain before. And then, as if some great universal entity was intent on making sure that I knew exactly what rain was, the downpour got heavier. The droning pitch of white noise suddenly went up a semi-tone (or there abouts? I'm not pitch perfect!) as the rain continued with a renewed vigour. Smell was the next of my senses to become aware of the assault, as I realised that the air had that clarity and freshness to it that a heavy rainfall brings. I stood there for maybe a minute longer before thinking that it was time to hit the sack. The film was no longer an option and I'd already nodded off on the sofa anyway, so what else was I to do? However, the compulsion to watch the rain for a few minutes more from the higher vantage point of the upstairs window was strong, and so I stood for a while looking out over the village and across the valley, in sheer wonderment at the rain pouring down onto the houses and gardens, forming rivers in the roadside gutters, washing away the dry summer.

When I awoke on Sunday morning and looked out into our garden it was clear to see the aftermath of the torrent. Sodden piles of leaves had collected in the nooks and crannies and a few small muddy puddles remained. The air was refreshingly calm and cool. By mid morning the puddles were starting to dry out and throughout the day the air remained clear and the temperature remained lower than it previously had been.  In the middle of the afternoon another brief (and much less forceful) shower hit, as if to serve as a reminder to the downpour of the previous evening, but it was not to last.

At work yesterday the number one topic of conversation was the rain. And not one single solitary person had anything bad to say about it! Quite the contrary in fact. Many were raving about how fantastic Saturday night's storm had been and others were being a little more down-to-earth about things and merely stating how good it was for their gardens. For whatever reasons people were unanimously happy about the rain. This may seem a little strange to many, but when you have months without any rain at all, and then it absolutely hammers it down, it's a good thing.

This morning the weather was the same as it was yesterday. Cloudy and warm with a fresh wind, but no rain. Well maybe a few drops, but it didn't come to anything. Then, this evening, just as my wife and children were coming home from work and school, the heavens opened once again. It's not been quite as torrential as it was on Saturday night but it has lasted longer. Three hours on and it's still raining. I reckon it will stop soon.

So, is summer over? Technically, I suppose so, yes. Autumn is almost certainly here. But you have to remember that last October was really hot and sunny. And of course you have to also remember that Portuguese rain comes down all at once, not like that horrid English Drizzle. There's hope yet for more sunny days to come. Yes, many more sunny days.