Saturday, August 06, 2005

Kiss the rain

Living in Singapore for almost all of my life, I tend to take for granted the deluge of moisture that the heavens give, and rue the days that I can't go out to play, ride my bike, take photos of nice blue skies. Not too sure if I'm a sedentary person or not, but a chunk of my leisure pursuits are weather-dependent. Well, if I wanted to, I could still go out, but I just don't want to get muddy, risk cameras or other electronic gear getting wet. Or something.

Wouldn't it be nice to have sunny skies year-round? If you could see my car's plate, it says "Queensland - Sunshine State", and for good reason. There's a lot of sunshine to be had around here, perhaps too much. Its not surprising for the sky to be clear of clouds, from horizon to horizon, especially nowadays in winter. That translates into little rainfall, and the parched landscape is yielding increasingly less water to the people who live off it. While Singapore would go to war with Malaysia should the water supply be cut, who will Australia go to war with when the reservoirs and rivers run dry? And so, my honours topic centres around the issue of water, and thus the lack of it creates the situation where I have some theme to work on.

Looking back on the past year, I guess I've missed the rain - I've missed the gentle hiss, the slight odour, as it hits the ground, missed the sudden coolness an afternoon downpour offers, missed the rain on my face and body. In an impending storm, I find myself opening the windows, or getting my camera gear ready and hopping into the car to head off into the nearby woods, if nothing else, then just to hear, see, and feel the rain. Nature feels more alive before, during and after a rainstorm, even the car feels more alive, as the tires squirm more than usual on the wet tarmac. Just as there wouldn't be good if there wasn't bad, there wouldn't be sunny days if there wasn't rainy days.

But above all, and even though I've never been to England, this is the sort of prevailing climate I imagine it would be like, cold, wet and dreary, but immensely evocative and moody. And if I were there, I might find myself missing Queensland's crisp brilliant sunny days.

So I don't wish I were there. I just like to have it close by, and sometimes, just to have the luxury of imagining.

And reminiscing.

posted by Chung Leong @ 4:08 AM 0 comments