Misty

It had started raining last night. 

The rain had continued the whole of today too.  It was not a heavy downpour but just a constant drizzle.  And it just rained and rained and rained.

I stood outside on the balcony for a long time this afternoon.  To watch the rain.  To take in lungfuls of fresh air.  To feel the cool air. 

To listen to the rain.

And then I was watching this Common Myna that had taken shelter in the palm tree.

 

 

It sat there very still, with its feathers all fluffed up.  The trapped air between its fluffed up feathers provides insulation against the cold and helps keep the bird warm.  And I wondered if he was enjoying the fresh air as much as I did?

When I looked up towards the hills, I could have thought I was up in the highlands!  It was all misty.

 

 

There is a quiet and serene beauty to it in its own way.

The forests will definitely be looking fresh and green tomorrow morning.  How many people would actually appreciate the rain for what it can do for Mother Earth? 

I do realise that it could bring floods in many places too.  But a lot of the causes of flooding have been man-made and had been brought on ourselves by our actions.  After all, for every action, there is a consequence.

When forests are cleared of trees, we lose the canopy that had cushioned the impact of the rain on the forest floor.  Instead of drops of rain dripping off the leaves and slowly dripping and seeping into the ground, we now get a deluge of rainwater on the bare earth.  With the forest gone, we no longer have the tree roots that used to hold the soil together.  The rush of water down the exposed hill slopes then results in mud slides and flash floods in the foothills and valleys below.

Add to that, all the rubbish that had been thrown into the drains and streams and rivers and had caused the waterways to clog up, blocking the flow of all that rush of water towards the sea.

So... do you just blame everything on Mother Nature when it rains and it floods?