A perpetual soaking rain continues to leak from above, as it
has done for successive weeks, seemingly without end. The damp mood created
doesn’t seem to lift despite the odd dazzling interlude when one typhoon heads
west from the island towards China and another is yet to make landfall. These
days have an intensity amplified by what has gone before: the sun almost
outshines itself, the clouds waft daintily in the upper atmosphere and the
breeze just eddies and flows to keep things warm rather than roasting.
We’re steeling ourselves for yet another typhoon, at least
the fourth of this short season. It is hovering with mild intensity off the south-eastern
coast, yet producing annoying volumes of sheeting liquid even as I write this.
We’re all in typhoon induced schlep at the moment and we are hoping that the
city might have mercy upon us and call an official typhoon day for tomorrow:
fingers crossed! The last thing we need is to battle the wind and rain tomorrow
on our walking commute as an arrival wet and miserable to start the day is not
a recipe for joyfulness!
We’ve been mired in yet more trouble on the apartment front,
as our back verandah ceiling has been leaking prodigious amounts of water for
about a week. Most concerning of all is the large cracking and fact that the
water seems to be leaking through the very slab, rather than around the edges!
Water drips incessantly on the washing machine, which we hope doesn’t short out,
and the water has now decided to leak into the ceiling of the back room and
down the back wall. The “girls” have endeavoured to ignore this aquatic
intruder so far, but I’m sure they’re not very impressed! There is apparently
going to be work done on the slab upstairs this afternoon, but only after two
sets of neighbours trooped gleefully through our place to inspect the damage,
one group coming twice while we were trying to eat our Sunday night meal!
We’ve been madly preparing for a truncated week and an
amazing whirlwind tour back to Australia this Thursday night (oh well, at least
Cassy has been!) My nephew will be married on Saturday on the Central Coast, so
we’re planning to fly overnight Thursday, get to near the venue by Friday
afternoon, attend the wedding on Saturday and get back to Sydney on Sunday. As
it is NRL Grand Final weekend, we thought we’d give that a whirl as well, so we’ll
get the hire car back to the airport early before training out to Olympic Park.
It will be a late night and an all-day flight back on Monday……guess who’s going
to be on cruise control back at work on Tuesday??!!
Our coming week will be hectic, waterlogged in all respects
and exciting….I’m procrastinating even now as I write this, but the rain is
only warming up, beating an intense beat, drumming heartily away at my window,
tempting me with a ferociousness that needs to last till tomorrow….will it
last? Please……?!
Photos: water damage in the apartment, a glittering respite from the weather featuring the soaring new tower block in Tienmu, and my cactus plant continues to revel in the rain as it produces weird flower after weird pod in an endless production line.
P.S. The Taipei City Government, in their infinite wisdom, called a typhoon day for tomorrow at approximately 8.15 p.m. this evening. Hail the overlords!
P.S. The Taipei City Government, in their infinite wisdom, called a typhoon day for tomorrow at approximately 8.15 p.m. this evening. Hail the overlords!