Rain, Rain, and More Rain
News from the Honduras Bay Islands and North Coast
03 November 2000
By Pierre Renaldo, The Coastwatcher©

I think the weather here is trying to tell me something. When you stick your arm out the window and it gets wet, and your dog comes into the house soaked and jumps up onto your favorite chair just as you were gong to sit down to read an exciting book, does that get your attention? Would you guess that is raining somewhere close by?

I hate to yield from my staunch belief that the rainy season 'almost always' begins in November, often times in late November. However, this year has been much different.

I am not saying that October or even September is the harbinger of long periods of rainy weather, but that about sums it up this season. It all started (prematurely of course) in Mid-September. Daily thunderstorms in the pre-dawn hours occurred almost every morning, beginning about the time of the Equinox.

As the year matured into October, the daily showers continued and even intensified. For the last half of last month, the message from Mother Nature became clear to me. "It's the rainy season dummy!" she whispered to me on the wind.

I suppose I should have figured it out sooner. At first I had myself convinced that is was just some late disturbances left over from the hurricane season, remnants so to speak, and that they just came up from the Venezuelan Coast to scare us a little. Memories of Mitch.

Further evidence should have convinced me. Driving the Flowers Bay-West Bay Road required four-wheel drive almost every day as October progressed. Of course, the road construction on that stretch of the new roadway was a major factor, but when the big construction vehicles began to have difficulty, I had to admit it. The rainy season has started early this year!

There is a discussion about the damaging effects of rainwater in the construction feature of 'Roatan Insights' this month.

The big bonus is that you could win a free e-book if you answer the contest question correctly. You can review the book selections from which you may choose your freebee if you win. Just click HERE.

You can download a free preview chapter of 'How To Avoid the Pitfalls: Building Your Dream Home' on the site also. This book is an introduction to the entire residential construction process for anyone, from land acquisition to move-in, but especially designed to be user friendly for those who have never been involved in any type of construction activity.

This month's question has to do with the weight of fresh water. If you attempt to do the contest question calculations, you will be astounded at how heavy one cubic foot of water is. You would also be amazed at the magnitude of destruction caused by erosion, from both rainwater, and seawater. We will be covering this topic extensively in 'Roatan Insights' over the course of the next few months.

We conduct occasional contests in order to promote our construction expertise. Construction and construction consulting are the business we are in. If you have questions feel free to ask, and I will do my best to give you accurate answers. There were ten winners from the October contest so look at this month's questions and give it a shot. Who knows? You could be a winner just by doing a simple math problem. All the necessary information is clearly expressed in the discussion about the weight of water.

Please feel free to ask questions about visiting Roatan, or eventually coming here to live. I will be happy to keep you abreast of any changes in requirements for residency and give you first hand information about the Bay Islands and the North Coast.

Once Halloween is past, Christmas comes roaring in like a storm. I realized how close it was when I was shopping in La Ceiba this past weekend and there were Christmas trees (artificial) on display in one of the department stores, as well as the usual array of ornaments and holiday paraphernalia.

It gives me the shakes every year..... the mere thought of Christmas shopping I mean. I love the holiday season. It is always fun and frolic time at our house.

We are far from our immediate human family, but we have some little ones who we love to surprise. Many of them are local children, and a few are our furry housemates.

We call these cats our clowns, and they truly entertain us with acrobatics and games that keep us laughing for hours. Once on stage, these hams try to keep our attention by performing some outlandish antics that I never believed cats could conjure up in their minds. We are treated to some very zany ideas, and they are truly funny.

They are all natives of Roatan. One is especially intelligent; a gifted beggar, and comedian, a prankster, and a wonderful friend. His name is Felix. He is a big, gray, (a friend said he was an Egyptian Blue) feline unlike any household animal I have know in my lifetime. It is difficult to think of him as a cat. I have to remind myself often. "He is a cat. Really! He is a cat."

I do not know if he has any ancestors in Egypt, and I am sure it would not phase him in the least if he found out he was related to Ramases, or King Tut. He is more fun than a barrel of monkeys. A very clever fellow, my constant companion when I am at home. Moreover, I am the guy who was convinced he was allergic to cats.

Felix is also very thoughtful. This morning I found a nearly dead lizard in my shoe.

By Pierre Renaldo, Mountain Coastal S.A,. General Contractors, Construction Management and Construction Consultants.