The rains have come to Chennai. The first night in waves heavy then light, every few seconds. I yelled for the driver and we drove off to buy extra diesel for the generator. The rain gave us a shimmering light show by reflecting the headlights back at us. He turned them to dim and drove in the dark. The rain is present in all your senses. The smell is not the salty desert rain, instead subtracting the dust and exhaust and leaving a fresh, clean sweetness.

Last night the rains hit Chennai proper, but spared us on the outskirts. Instead we had partly cloudy skies. About midnight I walked out on the terrace. The quarter moon was rising over the ocean to the left of Orion.  There was just enough light to see the waves cresting on the beach. I was distracted by what first appeared to be a silvery thread drifting in the wind, but was instead a formation of birds heading south towards summer.

Shawn