Thunderstorm

Central Mexico can roll out a thunderstorm.

Dark, billowing clouds filled the valley late this afternoon, and the sky has not stopped grumbling and cackling for hours since then. This is arid land, and it is not the rainy season; historically, that comes in June through September. But Guanajuato has been in a drought, and the rainy season has been minimal in recent years. Our bike ride yesterday took us past two presas, or dams, with water hanging low below the historic watermark. Water is being rationed in the city: No water runs three days a week. This sounds severe, but, oddly, we have not been affected by it. Our apartment has had water every day, and so has every other place we have been - perhaps because the storage tanks above most of the buildings compensate with stored water on the off-days.

So we are glad for the rain. I had to run to get the clothes off the line; now they are draped all over the apartment, and we are cozied up with soup on the stove. The hypnotic thunder and rain are perfect for getting lost in a book. I will settle in with Lacuna, the new novel by Barbara Kingsolver that is set in Mexico in the early 20th century in the circles of Diego Rivera and Friday Kahlo.