Rainy Days and Mondays!
The words of the song made famous by the Carpenters, probably 40+ years ago, says, "Rainy days and Mondays always get me down." Well today is Monday, and it is a rainy day, and it is not getting me down. I may somewhat frustrated that I am not home to steam up the house with some delicious baking or working on a sewing project, but the rain is absolutely beautiful!
When you live in the Sandhills of Nebraska, you learn to appreciate rain. Old timers are heard to say, "We are never more than two weeks from a drought!" Things dry out so fast in this sandy soil, and where the mud was standing a week before, the dust is now blowing. So we learn to appreciate however much rain we get for however many days we might get it.
When I think of rain, I have some memories of rainy times. Almost without exception, the rains are good memories.
The most recent memorable rain was Christmas Day 2016. On a day when snow would be much more the norm, we received a rainy downpour, complete with thunder and lightning, that would rival any summer rainstorm. It was just a strange curiosity to have rain like that in December.
Several years ago, this time during the summer, our son Michael and his family were visiting. At that time the girls were probably about 2,4 and 6 years of age. Just as we were ready to leave church on Sunday morning, the skies opened up and dumped enormous amounts of rain. Consequently, the church members were standing in the vestibule awaiting a break in the rain or waiting for their ride to arrive at the door. Rachael, Lexi, and Natalie kept standing by the door and watching the rain as if they had never seen rain before...then it dawned on us! They had been living in a drought-parched area of South Dakota for several years, and they probably hadn't seen that kind of rain before. It was fun to watch them watch the rain like they did. The things we take for granted!
When we were living out on the ranch during the 80's, we got an all day soaker. I remember it had been really dry up to that point, and the men were all stuck in the house the entire day because there was really no way to do anything outside in the downpour. By evening, our road had ceased to exist one place where the creek ran under it. There was a lot of road damage from that rain, and we had to wait our turn to have the road fixed. So Mike managed to get a vehicle to the other side of the road and laid bridge planks across the chasm that had been the road so that we could drive to the plank, get out and walk across it, then take another vehicle on from there. I'm sure it only lasted a few days like that...and it really cut down the traffic by our place!
My job provides a lot of opportunity for taxpayers to weigh in about the quality of their roads, especially at tax paying time. Several years ago we hit a particularly long rainy spell, right at the end of April as people were coming in to pay their taxes. So it was fresh in their minds that their roads were a muddy mess, and I had several people please ask me to apply their tax dollars to fixing their road. I chose to be pleased that people thought I had that much authority, but I also had to inform them that I was not the person in charge of that decision. Call your commissioner!
The summer of 1962 was a very wet summer for this area. I was nine years old at the time, and I remember being frustrated that the constant rain was ruining my summer fun. One Saturday afternoon, we got a gully washer like I had never seen before or since. I don't remember how much rain we got but it was enough to wash out the bridge on Bone Creek south of Springview! But, in spite of the fact that the rain had been ruining my summer, it also gave us a treat. The backyard filled with about a foot of water, which only lasted for a short time as it soaked away fast, and my mother let us go outside and play around in that once-in-a-lifetime backyard flood! She was always cool about stuff like that...and she was probably ready for all of us to go outside after being cooped up in the house with all of us kids. (She was probably cursing the rain just like we were!)
Those are just a few of the many memories I have of rainy times. In this country, rain is such a blessing. For farmers and ranchers it is nearly the equivalent of raining money. For those of us who live in town it merely means we don't have to water the lawn today. I love the feeling of being cozy and dry in the house while it is raining outside. I especially love laying in bed at night and listening to the rain.
Living in Nebraska, I'm sure we've spent much more time praying for rain than just about anything else. So a rainy Monday doesn't get me down, except down on my knees to say thanks!
When you live in the Sandhills of Nebraska, you learn to appreciate rain. Old timers are heard to say, "We are never more than two weeks from a drought!" Things dry out so fast in this sandy soil, and where the mud was standing a week before, the dust is now blowing. So we learn to appreciate however much rain we get for however many days we might get it.
When I think of rain, I have some memories of rainy times. Almost without exception, the rains are good memories.
The most recent memorable rain was Christmas Day 2016. On a day when snow would be much more the norm, we received a rainy downpour, complete with thunder and lightning, that would rival any summer rainstorm. It was just a strange curiosity to have rain like that in December.
Several years ago, this time during the summer, our son Michael and his family were visiting. At that time the girls were probably about 2,4 and 6 years of age. Just as we were ready to leave church on Sunday morning, the skies opened up and dumped enormous amounts of rain. Consequently, the church members were standing in the vestibule awaiting a break in the rain or waiting for their ride to arrive at the door. Rachael, Lexi, and Natalie kept standing by the door and watching the rain as if they had never seen rain before...then it dawned on us! They had been living in a drought-parched area of South Dakota for several years, and they probably hadn't seen that kind of rain before. It was fun to watch them watch the rain like they did. The things we take for granted!
When we were living out on the ranch during the 80's, we got an all day soaker. I remember it had been really dry up to that point, and the men were all stuck in the house the entire day because there was really no way to do anything outside in the downpour. By evening, our road had ceased to exist one place where the creek ran under it. There was a lot of road damage from that rain, and we had to wait our turn to have the road fixed. So Mike managed to get a vehicle to the other side of the road and laid bridge planks across the chasm that had been the road so that we could drive to the plank, get out and walk across it, then take another vehicle on from there. I'm sure it only lasted a few days like that...and it really cut down the traffic by our place!
My job provides a lot of opportunity for taxpayers to weigh in about the quality of their roads, especially at tax paying time. Several years ago we hit a particularly long rainy spell, right at the end of April as people were coming in to pay their taxes. So it was fresh in their minds that their roads were a muddy mess, and I had several people please ask me to apply their tax dollars to fixing their road. I chose to be pleased that people thought I had that much authority, but I also had to inform them that I was not the person in charge of that decision. Call your commissioner!
The summer of 1962 was a very wet summer for this area. I was nine years old at the time, and I remember being frustrated that the constant rain was ruining my summer fun. One Saturday afternoon, we got a gully washer like I had never seen before or since. I don't remember how much rain we got but it was enough to wash out the bridge on Bone Creek south of Springview! But, in spite of the fact that the rain had been ruining my summer, it also gave us a treat. The backyard filled with about a foot of water, which only lasted for a short time as it soaked away fast, and my mother let us go outside and play around in that once-in-a-lifetime backyard flood! She was always cool about stuff like that...and she was probably ready for all of us to go outside after being cooped up in the house with all of us kids. (She was probably cursing the rain just like we were!)
Those are just a few of the many memories I have of rainy times. In this country, rain is such a blessing. For farmers and ranchers it is nearly the equivalent of raining money. For those of us who live in town it merely means we don't have to water the lawn today. I love the feeling of being cozy and dry in the house while it is raining outside. I especially love laying in bed at night and listening to the rain.
Living in Nebraska, I'm sure we've spent much more time praying for rain than just about anything else. So a rainy Monday doesn't get me down, except down on my knees to say thanks!
Comments
Post a Comment