Fields of Gold

I realize that Sting was actually talking about fields golden with wheat in his song, but the golden fields here in Africa are worth singing about too. These yellow flowers have blanketed the mountain sides and meadows here in Jos for the past couple of weeks. It's absolutely beautiful and I wish I could tell you what they're called but I'm a far cry from a botanist and everyone I ask calls them "the end of rainy season flowers." I'll give you one guess what time of year they bloom :) Yes, yes, these droplets of sunshine pop out along with some orange buds during the last few weeks of sporadic rain. It's as if they are the giving everyone a final burst of color before dry season sets in and everything turns brown for the next 6 months. When I say dry season, I'm not just talking about having dry skin and no rain. There is this amazing phenomenon where the winds start blowing more from the north, bringing with it dust and sand from the Sahara. I remember flying over the Sahara a few weeks ago thinking how incredibly huge it was. Well, the vastness is not without consequence. I'm told a haze settles and the views of the mountains I currently enjoy just outside my gate will be hardly visible. Oh, and there's a name for this wonder of nature: harmattan. Sounds like some monster from the Odyssey if you ask me. Then again, considering the increase in dusting I'm going to have to do, the harmattan is a bit of a monster. Word is, mere hours after dusting you can have a layer of reddish/brownish dust on your furniture. That does NOT motivate me to even attempt. You know what other havoc the harmattan can wreak...boogers. Enough said.
But for now, I'll just savor God's beauty in my fields of gold. Ahhh...