Sweet Summetime

Ironically, though I am about to leave, this is the fist time I've really been able to take advantage of being on a school schedule during the summertime here in Hovd. Last year I jetted off on vacation before the school year ended but this year I am lucky enough to have stuck around and am truly relishing the slowness of the season. My windows haven't been shut for weeks now and I wouldn't dream of closing out the cheery bird songs and fresh, sunny air night or day. This is a radical change from having my windows locked against sand storms and tapped against cold for months. I live next to the town theater so now it's been a privileged to wake up each morning to the sound of live opera or morin khuur lilting through the open window as I curl back into the covers, happy to let part of the morning float by. It has truly been a rediscovery of the world: I forgot the sound of wind running though tree leaves and the amount of shade that has overgrown the walkways around town is astounding. Perhaps the loveliest of recent events has been the luscious summer rain. Rolls of thunder rocked me to sleep last night and I woke up to a downpour this morning. Though I have many errands to run today, I hope the heavens don't dry up any time soon. Summertime in the South where I am from is a time of great abundance and relaxation and though I am eagerly looking forward to fat farmers markets and ambling, honeyed night, this Western Mongolian summer sure is sweet too.