The Blessing of Water

After rainy season comes dry season. Gradually the rain peters out, and suddenly you realize that it's been a few weeks since it has rained at all, and then a few months. It may rain once or twice during this season, what we call winter, because it's cool, but not very much. Then comes hot season. No rain, no cool, just long, hot days, and everything turning brown. Trees shed their leaves and close up shop for a while to survive the heat. At least, trees that aren't indigenous do. The reservoir at the end of hot season, close to empty. Into the middle of this long, hot, dry spell comes the New Year Festival called Songkran. It anticipates the coming rains, the shift in the weather, the relief from the heat, with the gift of water. To an outsider it just looks like a nationwide week long water fight. Everyone gets wet. Many expats party and get drunk and enjoy the epic water fights. That's fine. It is super fun. It's such a relief, in the middle of the hea