Oh dear! It's raining cats and dogs outside

It is now 6pm, Equatorial time. Here I am, fresh from a tea session at the office cafeteria, with nothing to kill but time.

Already, the distant sounds of the rolling thunder have penetrated the confines of this thick-walled office. Thoughts meandered like an ox-box lake in the labyrinth of my mind.

My spirit has already left for home even though the body is still here. Truly, our thoughts travel faster than our bodies. As if you don't know that!

It is Jan 4, 2008. We are now eight years into the 21st century. The world has nothing much to show except regional conflicts, blizzards, sporadic violence in the African continent, nuclear uncertainty in North Korea and Iran, and the race to the White House is gathering momentum.

If you are an ordinary Joe like me, you really can't spare a thought for these global concerns. The only one that has held my attention for some time is global warming and all its unnatural consequences.

It is a bit late in the evening to think of what we can do. The scientists are trying to rationalise that the situation is not as serious as Al Gore made it out to be, even though some eggheads are genuinely concerned.

As in the past, the world will only wake up when the earthquakes have shaken their homes to their very foundations or when the lava has reached their front doors.

Otherwise, nobody is really bothered. So much for the progress of manking. We are often too busy with our little and pathetic selves. Thank God for some really conscientious people who battle for all mankind against great odds.

What would we do without these good people? The thunderstorms that shake the trees and sometimes break the sound barriers portend an interesting time ahead (for want of a better word).

Humans on the whole are always Johnnys-come-lately. We never really learn until the last minute of our lives.

I have always had a morbid fascination for dark clouds, thunder-and-lightning and flash floods. One of the reasons is because I have been caught in the maelstrom of these natural occurrences once too often.

Like they say, if you have been staring at the eyeballs of adversity too many times, you begin to develop an unusual fascination, not fear, for Nature's angry brother.

I like to believe that one day when the earth has released all its pent-up fury, we can all begin to rebuild our lives and our homes. It's all part of the celestial game plan.

Good luck to us all. We really need it.