Clarity after rain - but will it last?

A clear sky over Mt Austen and the central Guale mountains is a beautiful thing indeed. But make sure to enjoy it while it lasts, because the cool clarity doesn't stick around for long, nor does it makes any promises for the day ahead.

By midday the big mountains have almost always been overtaken by cloud - that much is predictable. But down by the sea, in H-town, anything might be happening, weatherwise.

Black pregnant thunderheads may be oppressing Honiara directly, somehow pressing our faces and lungs at the same time.

Or a high pasty haze might be hanging overhead, feeling like a magnifying glass for an already unbearable sun.

Or a series of squalls might be blowing in from the sea, forcing the ships at anchor to turn in unison while it flings fresh sheets of water in over the shore.

Not much good as harbingers, those clear mountains behind Honiara are always excellent at telling us about the past.

A clear central ridge in the late afternoon only happens after a ridiculous amount of precipitation. Look for it after it has been raining for days, when every piece of clothing you own has attained a uniform level of dampness and the very thought of air conditioning makes you break into a hacking cough.

Or look for clear mountains anytime of the day after a pr0longed and intense thunderstorm. The sort of thunderstorm which makes conversation indoors impossible, the sort that turns most roads in Honiara into rivers and some into ponds.

For Honiarans, the clear mountains remind us of the rough time we have just been through, and might just be a little reward for having stuck around right through it.

By all means enjoy the moment.

Just don't expect it to last.