As I write there is a river flowing down my street. As I write the sky is being lit up by bolts of lightning and thunder is booming with an almighty force all around. As I write the trees, plants and earth are being nourished by the vital force of nature, made up of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen.

A Rainy Night in Oaxaca

Living in Mexico has made me see rain differently. In England it generally just drizzles, and drizzles and drizzles. Occasionally a storm will occur, thunder and lightning will strike and it will rain all night. I hated the rain when I lived in England, it was cold, it was grey and it was constant, I never saw its vitality. In Mexico I have learnt to see the rain differently. In Mexico I crave the rain, I am in awe of it.

We are coming to the end of rainy season here. I remember hating this season last year, desperate for it to end. This year, it seems to have rained less and I have been willing it to rain more. Oaxaca blossoms during the rainy season. The mountains all around turn beautiful lush shades of green and the crops grow. Some of the land in the communities surrounding Oaxaca is so arid that without a good rainy season, nothing can be cultivated, livelihoods can’t be maintained.

When the heavens open I can’t help but think back to the time of the Aztecs. How obvious it was to worship Tlaloc, the god of the rain, thunder and lightning and fertility, because of his power to give life and take it away.  How clearly, I understand why the Aztecs revered gods of nature, because nature is our life force, our everything.

A threatening sky above the lush green mountains of Oaxaca

So as I sit inside, sheltered from the downpour, albeit bar the trickle of raindrops that have found their way through a gap in my window, I like to join the Aztecs in their reverence of Tlaloc and I like to think of all the seeds taking root and feeding from those two parts hydrogen one part oxygen crashing down from the sky.

Top photo by Nikhol Esterás

Susannah Rigg is a freelance writer and Mexico specialist. Her work has been featured in BBC Travel, CNN Travel, Conde Nast Traveler, AFAR and The Independent among others . Check out her portfolio here. Contact Susannah by email, info [at] mexicoretold [dot] com and join her on Instagram and Twitter.