Harmattan

This time of year is a special time in Nigeria, the country where I grew up. It is the middle of the dry season right now, a special mini-season called Harmattan. Nigeria is a country on the west coast of Africa just beneath the Sahara Desert. Christmas and New Year in Nigeria fall on the calendar at the same time as Harmattan. The harmattan is a dry and dusty West African trade wind. It blows southwest from the Sahara Desert into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March. Humidity is extremely low and the heavy amount of dust in the air can sometimes severely limit visibility and block the sun for days. It has a similar effect to that of a heavy fog. Against this backdrop, we celebrated Christmas and New Year. My father used to say that he liked the fact that Christmas came in the middle of Harmattan. In America everything would be stark, cold, and dreary this time of year, with the trees bare and the air full of winter’s chill. In the middle of this otherwise dreary time, Christians celebrate the birth of the Savior with ornamented and brightly lit Christmas trees, gifts, good food, and Christmas cheer. Likewise, in Nigeria, when the world is dry and dusty, and all the leaves and grass are a dreary brown, Christians are celebrating the joyous birth of their Savior with songs and good cheer. Growing up, I knew Harmattan to be a season of dry air and extreme dust. When I was just a baby, I had very thin, wispy, blond hair. During the Harmattan season the static electricity from the dry blowing air caused my hair to stand on end most of the time and my family fondly called me “Harriet the Harmattan cat” because my hair looked like the hair on the back of cats when they arch in fear or anger. As I got older, and my hair thickened and lay down as it should, I became accustomed to this time of year when dust accumulated on our furniture overnight and covered the trees in the outside world around me. That was so long ago now. I've put January harmmattan days behind me years ago. Now I'm faced with cold, stark, sometimes icy winter days. But January still makes me loook forard to the moths ahead. As a child I looked forward to the rainy season arriving when my worl would turn luch and green again. Today, much the same--I look forward to spring when the world aroudn me warms and turns lush and green again too. Hurry spring!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas in Ogbomosho

 

Ogbomosho, Nigeria is the town I grew up in. Christmases there were so special. Nigeria is a country on the coast of West Africa just beneath the Sahara Desert. Christmas in Nigeria comes in the middle of the dry season in a special part of the dry season known as Harmattan.

Wikipedia defines Harmattan like this: The Harmattan is a dry and dusty West African trade wind. It blows south from the Sahara into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March. Humidity can drop to as low as 15 percent. In some countries in West Africa, the heavy amount of dust in the air can severely limit visibility and block the sun for several days, comparable to a heavy fog.

And against this backdrop, we celebrated Christmas. My father used to say he liked the fact that Christmas came in the middle of Harmattan. In America everything was stark, cold, and dreary with the trees bare and the air full of winter’s chill and in the middle of this otherwise dreary time, Christians celebrate the birth of the Savior with ornamented and brightly lit Christmas trees, gifts, good food, and Christmas cheer. Likewise in Nigeria, when the world is dry and dusty, all the leaves and grass are a dreary brown, Christians are celebrating the joyous birth of their Savior with songs and good cheer. The celebration in both countries injects cheer in an otherwise dreary season and proves that our joy over Christ is not based on our circumstances.

I loved the Christmases of my childhood! They were unique and wonderful. A missionary kid friend of mine, Peter Gilliland, has written a short memoir about his childhood memories of Christmas in Ogbomosho which I will post in two parts over the next few weeks. His memories are so similar to mine since we were both blessed to spend our childhoods in the 50’s and 60’s in the same wonderful town – Ogbomosho, Nigeria or as the Nigerians write it, Ogbomoso. (Their “s” is pronounced like an “sh”.)

On a humorous note, when I was a baby, I had very thin wispy blonde hair. During the Harmattan season the static electricity from the dry blowing air caused my hair to stand on end most of the time and my family fondly called me “Harriet the Harmattan cat” because my hair looked like the hair on the back of cats when they arch in fear or anger.