Rainy season has begun in Westmoreland. I’ve gotten accustomed to adding a side bar when I tell people here that it rains a lot in my hometown. In Jamaica, when it rains, it pours. I imagine a Jamaican translating our explanation of the northwest’s prevalence for rain as one continuous deluge that floods the streets for months on end. Here, a ten minute rain storm will literally flood the streets of Sav-la-Mar (the town nearest us). And the other day, while we were at home during one of the downpours, we witnessed one particular, common rainstorm occurrence: rodents running for shelter. Despite our self-installed mesh screen on the front door, a little mouse rushed the house, apparently shimmied under the mesh with ease, and made a beeline to the corner of our livingroom, right under our noses. We tried to shoo him out, but we haven’t seen him since. The next morning, we also found three dead cockroaches and one live one- an increase of three from our daily average. So we’re currently devising more ways to secure our entry ways from creatures, especially during the rainy season.
In with the Rain
Simply Intentional 
You’re right: no comparison between Portland rain and that of Jamaica! When I first heard that meetings in Jamaica were cancelled when it rained and people didn’t go outside (a wet head = illness), I thought how wimpy! But, true, the deluge in our little village filled the gutters as the waters flooded down our hilly road. Have you had your clothes get “a second rinse” on the clothesline yet???!!! Fun!