Weather can really affect one's vacation and other musings!

This year, I've been impressed by how much weather affects our vacation plans! 

1. How weather affects a village visit vacation: The first set of photos were from our visit to someone's village home.  Our friend had planned various outside activity but it rained for the first few hours we were there... as you can see we opted for indoor activities.  Later we went out and appreciated the local chorus who came, and the children's fort that they made for our kids.  But I know it caused some stress to our friends, and various visitors who would have stopped by didn't stop by due to the rain. 

 2. How weather affects an April visit to England:  Somehow the visions of tulips and daffodils (as per ) were replaced with lots of huddling and running from the wind.  That said, many other good things outweighed the skipping through pastoral England plans!

 3. How weather affects a family vacation to Coastal Carolina.  My sister and I realized several days into our "beach fest" plans with four children that her two bedroom house might not pass muster as an alternative to tiring kids out at the beach.  On one of the last days, we said, let's take them to the beach in the rain.  Thankfully, no thunderstorms to deter us.

 4. How weather affects the 4th of July.  Somehow the fourth is quintessentially a sunny day holiday.  So, plan B.  The movies-- and it was a plan B for many people!

 5. How weather affects a trip to Lake Mburo.  In many ways, we got all the benefits of visiting a game park in Uganda-- look at the baby zebra! :) But, you can tell by the photos who dry and dusty the park was and if we return during rainy season you would really see the difference in the landscape.  And on a more sober note, many Ugandans are suffering from drought.

A last reflection... this year, as we did some different trips and found how much weather did affect our plans, it made me consider this analogy.  I think in many ways we could understand an African worldview more if we considered our powerlessness over weather.  When I was in NC, I was thinking that people must be so bummed that they spent thousands of dollars for a beach house during a rainy week.  But I also figured that they aren't really going to "sue" anyone regarding this reality, that they couldn't go cash in their "weather insurance" and try for another week.  We do understand that weather is out of our control, and that the best attitude is to sort of adapt and make the most of it.  I think due to so many systems that are out of the common rural Ugandan's control, they also tend to have a very similar attitude towards "out of control" factors (government, roads, corruption, medical options, water, power, etc, etc).  Marx said,  "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people". I think in Marx's view, politicians and governments offer religion/faith to those who suffer to prevent them from taking control and rising up.  

We, as Americans especially, tend to assume so much control over most of life's factors. While this has many virtues, I think we are suffering consequences of "too much control" because when its all said and done, we don't control some of the biggest factors of a human life.  And by internalizing that responsibility, we end up in a false narrative where we will fail and our expectations can't be met.  We can't control our weather.  We can't number our days.  We can't make other people say, do, feel what we want them to.  We can't heal everything that needs healing.  I know this is sort of a rambling generalization, but I think I just felt that "weather" is a good analogy of something we don't control.  And the way we deal with that uncontrollable natural element, is perhaps a healthy way to think about other ways we might more humbly accept things that are out of control.  Obviously, I do think we need a faith narrative (whether we're poor or rich) because I don't think other explanations are sufficient for balancing personal responsibility and personal suffering.