Hamatan

December 10, 2014

It is the Hamatan—the Ghanaian winter when hot, dry winds from the Sahara blow south, bringing flies, haze and disease.  Temperatures get hotter during the day, rain is rarer, and the earth  is parched and cracked.  However, because it is winter, mornings are cooler; this time of year people actually don jackets or sweaters in the early hours.

The skies are hazy from red dust and smoke— breathtaking red sunrises and sunsets everyday keep me running for my camera.  On the other hand, this same sun causes naturally occurring fires in the dried vegetation everywhere.  The nearby hills, once sparkling in their nearness, are cloaked in dust.

Apparently, the 1969 Hamatan brought particularly bad pinkeye—the locals call it “Apollo” even yet, because this condition was blamed on the moon landing of the same name.  My grandchildren stayed home from school for several days in an effort to avoid contracting it from multiple infected classmates.  Even though parents were instructed to keep children home if they had it, most with Apollo simply donned sunglasses (to hide their infection?) and came to school anyway.

Snakes, who love the heat, are said to be more active at this time—better to wear shoes, and not the ubiquitous flip-flops or “slippers.”  Watch where you walk, avoid long grass, and certainly don’t put your hand into a hole!

Skin is dry, lips chapped, dust is on my floor, piano keys, face.  Asthmatics struggle to breathe in air heavy with sediment and smoke.  Sunrises glow second-coming scarlet.  Rare rain.  Hamatan.