Mariha (Winter)

Some of you must get tired of my complaining about winter in Africa.  I still marvel at the incongruence of sitting at my computer bundled up in layer upon layer, with a heater at my feet while outside in the afternoon sun, children are running about with but a light jacket.  How can it be colder inside than out?

By and large it has been a mild winter though we are in the midst of our third cold front.  The cold front arrived early last week (June 04), and culminated with snow flurries on Saturday, the 9th.  A friend, who was out in the mountains, described her harrowing journey back to Maseru on snow-covered roads.  Snow and freezing temperatures in Africa still seem like a contradiction to me.

This week we are getting some slight warming with the days back up to the low teens, and the nights only in the -1 to -4 range.  Still, the masonry the houses are built from seems to hold the long night cold, leading to the incongruence of deep chill inside, when the afternoon sun beckons with its bright warm smile. 

We again have retreated to two rooms in our current house, the kitchen and the bedroom.  We deeply miss the coal heaters we enjoyed in two of the houses we had previously lived in, while here in Lesotho.  If I ever have opportunity to construct another building in Lesotho, I will be looking at insulating options to create a warm and cozy inside. 

May those of you north of the equator enjoy a warm and relaxed summer.  While here, with June 21 but a week away, we, and many of our Basotho friends, are looking forward to the days getting longer and with the longer days, warmer living. 

~ Benno ~