MEComposing

Have you noticed how many people, left and right, are moaning the fact that the rains haven't stopped for days now? That before the heat wave over a week ago, people were wondering why it was raining already in May and were upset over their vacation plans ruined?

And yet, I can still remember a time when Filipinos were used to a lot of rain. I remember a time when we were used to six months of sunshine and six months of rain. Plus, the Flores de Mayo is basically a veneration of Mother Mary to bless us with rain so that farmers can be ensured a bountiful harvest.

But there came that dry spell. In fact, I think it was only three or four years ago that the dry spell ended. For a decade at least, we'd only have rain with the typhoons. But there wasn't that perpetual downpour. Now, the daily rain is back. And true, it sucks because we now can't dry our clothes. And for sure, it is flooding some areas in the city.

But the flooding isn't the rain's fault exactly, is it? Isn't it ours, by building more and not providing enough exit points for the water to flow out of? And this is not like some harsh storm wrecking crops and what-not. This is just a steady downpour, one that may even have helped clean our air so we were spared from that Swine Flu virus, one that clears up smoke and pollution in the city.

And yet, it now ruins other people's days.

Oh, I will not be a hypocrite. I think it would be grand for it to shine all day and rain all night. But we can't really control such things so am just thankful we're not getting flooded. And we're being ensured electricity because the dams are being filled. And there is hope for rice crops (which incidentally should have come a longer way by now, but I guess the powers that be never thought to protect that which we consider staple in our diet).

I can afford to be gracious and magnanimous, I know. But there isn't a point to not being one, for again, it's not like I can scream STOP to the heavens and get results.