Seventh Month Ends in Two Days, But the Rains Don't

The rains have been fierce for these two weeks. Apparently the island is going to have to brace itself for more floods and rains till October, and then another monsoon comes. Zzzzzz. The storms have been arriving at 6am and in the day when I'm actually awake and not groggy. There were a few afternoons when the dog had to figure it out on her own because we were out. 

She seems to be fine this lunar Seventh Month. Last year, she was panicking at every turn, and couldn't settle down at restaurants while we ate, or while we were at the friends' homes. She would either pace or eerily stare into space; standing for the whole duration of dinner/visit, and wouldn't sit and rest. This year, she's less antsy. She hasn't been spooky. Hahaha. She does pace a little, but she settles down after a while. She sleeps fine through the night, when there isn't a thunderstorm incoming.

That said, Choya hates the smoke produced by the burning of offerings and joss sticks though. She doesn't understand it; they make her eyes smart and nose run. So she hates that. Thank goodness that the burning of joss paper and incense in this area isn't so prevalent. I'd really hate for the ashes to be flying in all the time, and be forced to close windows and patio doors all day. 

That one night, Wednesday night / Thursday pre-dawn hours, the rains started at 8pm and didn't stop for the next 18 hours. The thunder cracked for an hour at 2am. It was epic. When Choya panics, she doesn't curl up and huddle — she jumps up and down the bed and uses her paws and nails to stomp on our faces. Sleep was impossible. 

So I took her out of the bedroom, and ended up sleeping on the floor in the living floor. She wouldn't let me sleep on the armchair; she would keep climbing up and down. She finally hid under the armchair (one safe spot) to shiver, but she held it together. When the thunder abated, so did her panic. It was only hours later then she deigned to move back to the bedroom and stay in her other safe spot in the shower cubicle.

I'm not sure that I'll be relieved when Seventh Month ends on September 6. It's quite obvious that Choya isn't panicking from potentially being able to seeing hantu. There had been some periods of inexplicable panic attacks when there weren't any rain clouds in the vicinity. (I don't really want to know.) It's still the thunderstorms that drive her crazy. The drastic drop in barometric pressure and the sharp crackle of thunder frightens her out of her skin. 

I love the cool weather, but I'm not liking the rains. It interferes with our plans, making even driving impossible. Needless to say, it disrupts the dog's pee and poop schedule. Thanks to us humans screwing up Mother Nature, we're in the negative band of the Indian Ocean Dipole. When the band moves away in October, the inter-monsoon weather heralds the Northeast monsoon...... 😑 

An impromptu lovely meal with the friends on a rainy night.
The dog was fine.