Cooling down

On the brink of the equinox (tomorrow) we are having our first taste of gentle rain to ease us into true autumn. This is, of course, because I spent the greater part of the day yesterday moving the sprays every half hour to ensure that the garden got a good watering! This is more work than it sounds like, as I have a large garden and operate three hoses at once, and sometimes I get so engrossed in my work that I forget to move them and have to wade through a swamp to get to the sprinkler head.

The good part is that the water is coming from the ground eight feet below the surface and not through a pipe from the dams that supply Cape Town. I hope that anything the plants don't require simply seeps back down to be recycled on the next pumping.

The cooler air and soft rain is much appreciated by the birds, who have been lying on the lawn with outspread wings to catch the slightest breeze on hot days. The sunbirds and white eyes love to dart in and out of the fountains I make with the hose and sit on twigs of hibiscus, fluffing and shaking their feathers with abandon.

A few years ago, an owl roosted on a branch near my window for a few days, in the open, and the whole time it was raining. He looked so hunched and miserable, but never moved, and I suppose it was only my impression based on how I would have felt, as nature has provided the perfect covering for every creature to withstand the climate.

Which makes me wonder whether Man was meant to live in cold and damp places on Earth, seeing as we arrived with just a thin layer of skin and no nice warm furry coat or feathers.