Ever since we lived in Bangladesh in ’86-87, we have loved the sights and sounds of the monsoon rains which create a virtual wall of water that marches across the landscape refreshing and cleaning the air. It is a sound that we will never forget. We were even looking forward to sharing that with Greg and Liz while they were here in January. Unfortunately, not only did it fail to rain the entire time they were here, but it has not really rained since then either and we are feeling the effects of it big time.

It has been incredibly hot, humid and still, making it oppresseive to even venture out. The government began rationing water in some parts of our province in early February and some areas have gone days at a time without water, playing havoc with small businesses like food stalls and laundries. This week we were warned that we our water rationing would begin, two days on and two days off so we have full containers all around the apartment. Although we have been careful with our water useage, we have actually not yet been cut off.

However, what has been far worse is the air quality. The Air Pollution Indexes have reached as high as 365 ppm is some surrounding areas when anthing above 100 is considered hazardous. This week the air is positively smokey and it burns your eyes and throat to be outside.  We even recieved an advisory notice from the Canadian High Commission here in KL; I guess that is how the Canadian government justifies withholding 25% of my meager pension at source, This morning we were delighted to wake up to sunshine and clear skies and treated ourselves to an hour or so at the pool. This evening we had the first taste of rain and now we sit enjoying some cool evening breezes once again.

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