The Winter

The schizophrenic nature of the weather spells out clearly what's to come: Winter.  The cold air blowing from the Antarctic region combines with the still hot sun on cloudless days to create such dramatic temperature variations as to thoroughly confuse.  Hot days that strongly suggest clothing in shorts and T's give way to cold nights of hiding beneath every blanket you can get your hands on.  Every evening when the sun closes on the horizon the wind picks up, warning of what's to come.  Then, with the last rays of light cut off, the cold rushes in, filling your unprepared body with chills and sending everyone inside.  The open doors and windows that for the entire day welcomed all are all secured.  Heaters are turned on to counter the vampiric collusion of wind and cloudless sky.  Sometimes getting cold enough to freeze water, all heat that was hopelessly stored during the day is bled from the ground, buildings and vegetation.<snip>

But then the morning approaches.  Hope of relief buds with dawn.  Standing outside with your face turned east you experience the exact moment of change as the first shots of bright sun break through the distant hills.  Immediately the cold starts to melt away.  Within minutes you almost feel as though you could work on a tan, and within a half an hour you've got the shorts back on.  It's a crazy battle of summer and winter, with summer slowly loosing out as the weeks progress.  I'm not sure what the winter will be like, but seeing this tortured Fall has been an experience in itself.

The change in weather has driven other changes as well.  Heaters are selling like hot dogs at a baseball game.  This weekend two of the major appliance stores in Windhoek were sold out.  Out in the location, homes are being "winterized".  Rocks are pilled alongside tin walls to add insulation.  Spare rags and towels are stuffed in holes to trap the little heat available.  And fires are lit inside the homes.  This last phenomenon has had an added affect of increasing the numbers of house fires.  Every evening this past week I've noticed a house fire as I walk up the hill to my flat.  To think that every night some family is loosing it's shelter in this frigid weather is a depressing thought. 

There are other changes as well.  Beggars on the street are asking for blankets and coats instead of meals.  Hot drinks are being sold by questionable street venders.  And the days are getting shorter.  It won't be long and Winter will be here.  A harsh time of year in a harsh place on earth.  I sometimes wonder why anyone decided that this place was a good place to live.

With winter brings term two of school.  With the term now started August break seems as close as Christmastime during Thanksgiving.  And after that break, term three: where dreams of December break (going home!!!) melt away the stress of final exams as longer days and warmer air melts away the winter.  Time is a funny thing here: as plentiful as it may seem, it still flows with surprising speed.

So the weight of Winter is bearable for me.  So much to look forward to.  So much to do!