April 6, 2008

A common topic of conversation in Canada is the weather. Changes are frequent, and it is a hobby with most people to try to predict the weather. It’s different in Costa Rica. I can predict the weather correctly 95% of the time, because it is the same for months at a time. The big news happens here in April or May, and again in November, with some interest mounting during the small summer in July.
In 2006, I planted a lawn in May, when the rainy season is supposed to start. We didn’t get any rain until May 8, and I had to water frequently after that, because we often went more than three days without rain all through the rainy season.
2007 was more normal, except the excitement was that it rained on April 16. It kept raining through May and June, although not every day, and usually in the late afternoon or night. That was an early end to the dry season, and the salt and melon farms lost a lot of money as they cannot produce with any significant amount of rain.
This Friday, it got real cloudy. Thunder and lightning and everything, so I didn’t water the lawn. However, as often happens here with those conditions, it didn’t rain. Last night it was clear in the late afternoon, and I started watering parts of the lawn as soon as they were shaded. About a half an hour after I was done, it started to rain. It rained for about 5 minutes, enough for my lawn, but not enough to hurt the salt or melons. However, if it signals the onset of the rainy season, it will be the earliest anyone here can remember.
And, speaking of my lawn, it’s great. Jose’s method of planting, and use of the type of grass we did, has proven to be the only solution in this area. I widened the driveway this year, and Jose transplanted that grass to areas where the original planting didn’t take well, and the new areas are akready taking hold. I still have to weed, but the grass is definitely spreading, getting thicker, and there will soon be no more room for weeds.