And the rain it rains

 At heart, I'm a country girl, and we country girls talk about rain. 

I've not experienced rain like this in my life. 

Darwin has received just over 200 mm (eight inches in the old language) of rain in the last 48 hours. 

This is enough to blow my tiny mind. I went to bed last night and according to the BOM, Darwin had already received 20 mm when I arrived. I got to the hotel. About an hour later the rain came in. 

It stayed. 

When I woke at 6.45 a.m. it was grey outside. My view, which currently looks out over to the airport and what is know as the Duckpond were nowhere in sight. The torrential rain kept coming. 

Darwin is different when the monsoons come in. The street people go into hiding. What are already quiet streets get even quieter. Only the office workers, scuttling between buildings, a coffee in one hand, an umbrella in the other, are seen. 

The rain is unrelenting, yet peace-bringing. Although you could cut the air, it being here in Darwin when the heat backs off is wonderful. A friend who hails from here said that they loved this time of year for the monsoons - not so much the heat that comes before and after the rain with a vengeance. But I get it. 

My colleague and I had to take a walk down to the other office late morning. We gathered one of the work umbrellas from near the door and made our way out. The great thing about this town is there are canopies over most of the footpaths. The only time you get really wet is when you cross the roads. 

Subsequently, we've each bought and umbrella, which will be left here in my Darwin bag, that sits in a cupboard (like my cat...), along with things like bug spray, eye makeup remover, tissues, a water bottle... things that have little monetary value, and it means you don't have to buy them again or bring them up from Melbourne. 

By this evening, there was a dry spit. it was still spitting, but we could make it out for dinner without having to run across the roads and pray that you don't come out of this sodden. 

But the country girl in me is still puzzling at the amount of rain we've had. I know what 100 millimetres can do to the Yarra - this is double the amount - in a day. 

I just don't understand. All I know is that I feel happy. 

Today's song: