Moldy Shoes

Would someone please explain this to me!


Why does this happen? Why does it seem to happen only to MY shoes.

Well, it is a country of sharp contrasts after all – and the climate seems to be no exception (or maybe it’s just the melting poles and disappearing permafrost.) Since we’ve moved here we seem to go months and months with no rain in the dry season, and then summer comes and it rains and rains and rains and everything molds.

It creeps into your drawers, your closets, areas around windows bloom in black filigree patterns. Shoes and cloth bound books get it real bad. If you don't take your stuff out of the closet and air it out at least once a week it turns green. Last year I had to wash everything I owned.

Vegetation grows rampant. I’ve planted flowers so many times in my window box just to have them taken over by weeds.


Finally I put a plastic lining and rocks down and set planter boxes on top. But those weeds are wily buggers and have found a way to seed themselves in the cement side of the window box – they are probably using mold for soil.

But at least the sky puts on a cool show in the rainy season. It will be blue and sunny one minute and then, like a sudden change of heart, the cumulus calvary will march in all arrogant and pushy.


Once a storm was rolling in as the sun was setting. The sun got under the clouds and lit them up red from underneath while they were black on top. It was diabolical. ( I had a picture of it somewhere, but seem to have lost it when my last laptop fried.)

Actually there are two kinds of rainy seasons. The cool kind with the storms and awesome skyscapes. And they yucky kind like we are having now, where the clouds come and sit on you for weeks. Literally, weeks. Soggy drizzle, non-stop. And it’s cold! (I know I know, 60º is not cold, but it is when the houses aren’t heated.) It’s nice at first, all cozy and hot tea and knitting weather, but then after a few days, with no end in sight and everything turning green and smelling like a mix of gym socks and wet dog, you really start to think whoever made up this vision of Brazil as a land of sun and fun LIED.