Actually, no, I’m not living on an island in the middle of the Mekong River near Vientiane. But, right now my house is surrounded by water on all sides so it feels like I’m on an island. Due to lengthy and moderately heavy rainfall lately, the small ponds on either side of the house, the back area, and the front yard are flooded this morning. Even if it stops raining for a few days, it will make trying to walk or to go jogging in the morning impossible without getting my shoes completely soaked. One solution I have is to wrap plastic bags around my feet, holding the bags on with rubber bands, and walking the short distance to ground that’s a bit higher up, then taking the bags off, going jogging or speed walking, and putting the bags back on when I return to the house. I’ll probably need to give this a try tomorrow morning, if it’s not raining.

The yard usually floods most years in late July and August, but this is about the earliest that it’s been underwater since I’ve lived here. Is that a foreshadowing of a heavier-than-usual rainy season later on? I’ll see, I suppose. I’ll keep posting as the rains increase (or decrease). More later from the island.