…And the rain keeps coming

Well, it had been a pretty dry year, after all, so it was bound to happen sooner or later. Xalapa is wet, very wet, one might say green: plants are green and mold is green and both are growing happily right now. Overall, the rain has been falling: with a couple of days of non stop, but not torrential. Seems, so far, that drainage is pretty good, better than in some streets in Coatepec (that resemble rivers at times) and way better than in Xico (were streets have white waters- photo).

The rest of the state, well, it is suffering. Last year (2007), floods started earlier as I recall. It was the North of the State, toward Tampico and the States of Tabasco and Chiapas. This year, it has been different. The weather patterns are turning already and States that would hardly see rain are flooding. Rivers that have been dry for over 30 years are suddenly coming out of their beds and destroying towns and fields (like in Chihuahua and Coahuila). Veracruz is no exception: the Papaloapan River overflowed for the first time in who knows how many decades flooding the town of Tlacotalpan, World Heritage site and one of our favorite towns in all Veracruz.

It is tremendously sad to see the dire need people have in the Southern parts of the State while life progresses so normally here. I shouldn't complain: we are lucky. Xalapa is lucky, the mountains are a good place. Rain falls, hurricanes pass and all we see are a few downed power lines and tree limbs, otherwise, we're good. Last year schools closed a couple of days due to hurricane winds (what is left from what hits the coast), this year it has been pretty benign for the mountains. The pot holes (baches) just keep getting deeper in some streets and kids can't go out to play at recess time, but so far no floods, no power outages, we're good.

And as far as the climate changes: what better proof than everyday in the Xalapa/ Coatepec area. Long gone are the days of the chipi-chipi, the famous non stop drizzle for months at a time. Long gone are the evenings and mornings covered in pea-soup fog. Long gone are the months of cut-with-a-knife humidity in the air. The plants are dying: Bromeliads and Orchids rely on that kind of humidity in the air to live in the wild. The ecosystem is shifting, again. Few people miss those days, though; it is nicer to go through the day dry. We never had a chance to live those days, but it must have been cool to wake up to a foggy morning and not be able to tell who was standing at the other side of your own patio.