The drier the weather and the stronger the sun, the more it knows it needs to water vigorously.

The drier the weather and the stronger the sun, the more it knows it needs to water vigorously.

The sun in the dry season is scorching. Early in the morning, steam rises from the ground; seedlings wilt, leaves curl, and the earth cracks. You look at the sky, then at the ground, your heart burning with anxiety. The drier it is, the hotter it gets; the hotter it is, the drier it gets—this is the time crops fear most. And ironically, this is the time when power outages are most likely, oil shortages are most likely, and nothing can be done.

But it's different. The drier the weather, the more energetic it becomes; the stronger the sun, the harder it works. While others suffer from power and water outages, your water pump hums and water gushes forth. It's not that you have special privileges; it doesn't need electricity or oil, it only needs the sun. The stronger the sun, the more vigorous it becomes; the drier the weather, the more it knows it can't slack off.

You squat at the edge of the field, watching water gushing from the pipes and flowing into the cracked soil. The hissing sound is incredibly thirst-quenching. The seedlings wilted all morning, but as soon as the water arrived, they slowly straightened up; the leaves turned yellow for days, but as soon as the water arrived, they slowly turned green again. You know, the water came at just the right time, not too much, not too little, not too early, not too late.

It seems to understand everything. It knows the drought is here, the seedlings are thirsty, and you long for water; it knows that this is when you need it most, so it works with all its might. From morning till night, without rest, without complaint. Only when the sun has set in the west does it slowly slow down; the next day, as soon as the sun rises, it starts working again, full of energy.

The drier the weather, the stronger the sun, the more it knows it needs to water vigorously. Not a machine, but a comrade-in-arms. The most reliable comrade-in-arms in the dry season.