Reminiscent of yester years:
I have found the ending weekend (on 11-05-2025) in Nairobi rather interesting. Sunny mornings (very hot sun rays for the observant) and quite rainy afternoons.
I have had to cancel my walking, site seeing and also visiting plans given that I cannot walk in the rain. My only and realistically well accepted option has been to stay indoors and work out indoor ‘things’ indoor.
Yet the rains have reminded me of past days when I was a small boy. During the times, rains were really heavy; and thick clouds would form in the skies and this would make our village and our people almost sad. They would cover the skies as early as 2pm leaving the impression that evening had arrived earlier than usual….
During my geography lessons later, I learnt that rain is formed through different process including evaporation of water from the earth surface after which clouds form. I learnt of conventional and depressional rains formation processes.
But I still wonder whether the rains that come with very dark thick, clouds leading to quite dark afternoons that make one fear that night has come too soon and suddenly and which kind of make people rather sad, rather depressed that the impending rains may continue for many, many hours are what were geographically explained as ‘depressional rainfall’… I guess i have to refresh my mind on this topic 
.
.This weekend has also been marked with some light lightening and continuously roaring though not so round thunder unlike the loud snapping thunder that can really cause fear and panic.
Notably, the light lightening and roaring thunder this ending weekend have also reminded me of ‘our childhood rains’.
During those days, we young children were really afraid of lightening and thunder. When the lightening was ruling the skies, we were always warned not to wear red clothes and any red clothing items no matter how small.
Word was rife then that people who wear red clothings get struck dead by the lightening and though i personally never heard of a funeral of someone struck by lightening, we still believed and obeyed.
Moreover, when the lightening was still ruling the skies, we were advised against sleeping on our backs and with the front of our bodies facing the skies…. Sleeping in this position could also lead to one getting struck by lightening so we fearfully obeyed.
During the rains, we stayed indoors throughout and we drank the famous African tea with our ‘throw & throw githeri, and we often very easily fell asleep.
The ‘throw, throw, throw’ ‘githeri’ was a common delicacy in our childhood. Plain boiled maize & beans always in 1:1 ratio would be placed in the plate then our mothers would sprinkle some salt on it and then dramatically but cautiously throw the mixture up and down the plate. This was so very much dextrously done with not a single grain falling off the plate and then we would be served the very delicious snack.
The TV technology, thought still available in other parts of the world had not reached our villages. Interestingly, we knew no one who owned a TV set and most of us thus never got ‘bored’ living that basic and mundane life without TV and radio given that radio signal transmission would be timed for evening and night time but for only a few hours… . Sleeping, after exploring all the indoor children play, would easily be the next option.
Another interesting lesson given then (during our ‘simple’ childhood) was that thunder was God’s voice…
.. That God almighty was telling us something in the thunder and also declaring His majesty.
Those days many people did not explain the rains geographically and afterall our parents’ explanations were kind of Biblical because they reminded us of a very mighty God who brings the rains (blessings) and lightening and also talk to and commune with His people 
