Running From Lightning

It’s summer here in Lesotho. It’s difficult to imagine the fresh powder and snow in the mountains of Idaho. During the rainy season the weather is typically predictable. In the mornings we awake to amazing sunrises, the sky full of pastel clouds and soft green light on the mountain slopes. A cool mist rolls through the river valleys as the herd boys take their flocks of sheep and cows to the field and women carry buckets of water from the spring. The hot summer sun will shine through a clear blue sky, until the dark thunderheads roll in around noon. For a few hours the sky turns dark, the rain pours and lighting flashes all around. The thunder sounds like gun shots then freight trains racing through the ground and through the grass roof of my hut. It scares me, but it’s exciting and makes me feel alive. It typically clears around 4pm and I sit outside my hut enjoying the fresh smell of rain and the beautiful rainbows that connect the canyon ridges. As the sun sets I watch the sky turn a kaleidoscope of oranges, blues, purples, grays and reds. I’ve never seen such amazing sunsets and have had my breath taken away many times by the beauty of it all.

This is “typical” weather for the rainy season/summer. But…I live in the mountains and the weather can change at a moments notice. My days are planned by the weather, if I wake up and I see some unfriendly clouds in the sky I won’t go to a remote school. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell, the storms sneak over ridges really quickly, and there have been a few times I’ve misjudged the sky and have been pelted by hail, downpour rains and stuck next to flash flooded rivers. It’s so unpredictable at times, but also incredibly beautiful. I always carry my raingear, lots of water and some snacks, even if there is not a single cloud in the sky. Just in case I have to run from the lightning.

Some of my favorite moments are the hard rains, lightning, sunshine and double rainbows all at the same time.