In the air

It is Friday night and I am on my balcony. It was an unusually warm and humid day. It wasn't too bad, but it was just a little bit uncomfortable at times. The air is cooler now, but still heavy. There is lightning and thunder in the distance to the south.

I got up very early this morning to play ultimate frisbee. The game started around 6:30am. When I awoke the sky was an amazing mix of pink and purple. It faded quickly as it got brighter. I spent much of the day editing my book. I purged contractions, entered copy edits, and spent too much time thinking about when numbers should be written (four) and when they should be numbers (4).

Today apparently was the day to "mow" the grass at KIST. Usually this is done by hand. Teams of men with small scythes traverse the lawn and deftly trim the grass. But today it was done by a gas-powered weed whacker. The humid air carried the smell of cut grass up through my office window. It was a pleasant and familiar scent and it made me think of mowing the lawn back home in the summer.

I had an excellent Chinese meal for dinner at my favorite Kigali Chinese restaurant. The spicy tofu was better than usual. I then returned and did more editing. The next few weeks I will need to spend many hours at my desk, carefully entering final edits for the book.

The wind has picked up a little. Periodically the wind whistles through the trees. It's an unusual sound---it sounds cold and wintry. The lights of Kigali sparkle as usual. The thunder is gone.