Restless rain

Today we got the tail end of the cyclone passing over us so it has been a day of restless rain and wind.  Nothing like the devastation we experienced during the last cyclone in December which hit us directly but rather unsettling.

As well as the rain and wind it has been very dark so I don't know how long the power is going to last.  We are on solar and at least we have some power, unlike those who get power from the electricity company which has turned the power off while they deal with a fault on one of the lines.  Probably caused by the wind or maybe the branch of a tree pressing onto it.

Trying to find a picture that expresses the movement and the wetness and the sound of the rain was very difficult and this was the best I could do.

Rain and silence

Today all my senses have revolved around the rain which has been falling all day. The wetness I felt as we picked vegetables this morning, moisture running down the back of my neck, clammy wet clothes and soggyness under my feet.  The sky a moving patchwork of different shades of grey as the clouds rolled in from the sea bringing in wave upon wave of rain, sometimes light, sometimes heavy.  The sound of the rain a constant backdrop to everything I did today whether outside or inside.

Darkness fell and suddenly, it seemed, the rain stopped.  It brought me to a stop as well.  Everything seemed to pause as if holding a breath.  I looked at my window and it was as if the dark was holding the silence.

After the silence the frogs and other night creatures began their sounds.  But so far no more rain.

Misty morning colours

This morning was grey and misty - not the thick mist that we get after the monsoon which hides the garden - but a more gentle mist that made all the edges of things blurry.  In which the green plants looked a verdant and brilliant green.

The picture I did was to try to give a sense of that.  Of the colours being blurry and yet very intense.

We heard this morning that another house has collapsed in Repos, one of the beach communities in Auroville.  The beach there had been eroding for some years and they were badly affected by the cyclone in December. With the foundations of the place disappearing it is not surprising that the house was washed down by the waves coming from storms in the large depression in the bay that is drifting towards us.

Yet they say the rain is not now expected to be as bad as forecast.  Lets see.

Wet weather work

A large depression has started coming over so it was grey and wet today.  Perfect weather for going through and throwing out a lot of my papers. I make digital copies of everything I need to keep which means I no longer need a filing cabinet.  Which means that I don't have to deal with the ants and rats who used to like to live there.

I made this picture on my iPad which means that writing this blog is having one effect that I hoped it would have - encouraging me to draw and paint more.  I have a long way to go before I am as happy doing art work on my iPad as I am with using conventional materials.  Hopefully practice will make - if not perfect, at least improvement.

Enjoyed the bright sunlight

After all the recent rain the sky seemed very clear and the sun especially bright today.  Everything is now very green towards the end of what has been a very dry year.

Have to enjoy the sun while I can as there is a large depression drifting towards us which is forecast to bring heavy rain early next week.

Nasen.....

My friend Nesan from Malaysia died very unexpectedly last year in a freak car accident.  Yesterday I met his wife and twin sons who came to Auroville, at least in part, because of what Nesan had told them about being here when he came to stay in Buddha Garden in 2009 when this picture was taken.

Looking at his sons I could see and feel Nesan so clearly.  It was good to talk with his family and I am grateful for them coming.  They left late last night to go to Rameshwarem in the south of Tamil Nadu to sprinkle some of his ashes on the sea.

A handful of diversity

Woke up to a sunny morning in contrast to the grey mornings of the past week so we were able to pick all the maize seed that was ready.  Look closely at the seeds on the cob in the picture.  They are all different colours which shows that the plants will have a great genetic diversity.  This means that whatever happens to the weather and other conditions some of the plants will survive and grow food.

More seed diversity = more resilience in the plants = more food security.  That's what we have in our hands when we pick up a maize cob as in the picture.

Rain greeetings

This is what greeted me when I got up this morning. After raining all night the place was covered in puddles - and still it rained.

Its the monsoon! And although the last two days have been very grey and rainy, in the week before that we had showers and sun which is perfect growing weather.

So far so good.

Wednesday October 24th 2012

So happy with the nursery

I am SO happy to have the nursery working again.

When it blew over in the cyclone of December 30th last year I was determined to have a better one built.  The original had collapsed several times, was the wrong design for this climate and after the cyclone had to be shored up with bamboo poles.  I was determined that we should have a new one as the nursery is central to the work we do here in Buddha Garden.

We managed to get the money together and had it built during March/April of this year.  One problem we had had with the previous nursery was that the plastic roof was rather vulnerable.  We therefore went for a new kind of roof which was more expensive but was, we were assured, the right kind of material to use.  Unfortunately it wasn't as the roof did not let in enough light for our vegetables.

So we had to search around for the right plastic, raise some more money, take off the old (which is really quite a new!) roof, make sure the plastic was properly taut to shrug off the rain - and after a lot of effort the roof was finally finished last Friday.

This picture celebrates the finishing of the nursery at last (it only took six months!) and that we have a fully functioning nursery just as the monsoon rains begin.

Tuesday October 23rd 2012