“Nothing reminds us of an awakening more than rain.”
The forecast says maybe rain today. I love it. You can’t be wrong when you say maybe. Right now, though, the clouds are few, and they don’t look like rain clouds. The sun keeps appearing and disappearing. It’s a chilly morning with a cool breeze.
Gracie and I were on the deck. The red spawn has started eating flowers from the clay pots. It had the nerve to grab a flower, scurry up a branch then sit and dine al fresco right in front of me. Now, though, I have the nozzle on the hose set to jet and I’m just waiting for the spawn.
When I was a kid, a rainy Saturday was the worst. If the rain was heavy, it meant staying inside all day, the most important day of the week for any self-respecting kid. On Saturday we had no obligations. We had no homework to finish, no church and no family dinner demanding our attendance. It was our day to do whatever we wanted except when it rained. A summer rain, though, was sometimes gentle, and we went out anyway. We figured the sun would appear and dry us. A winter rain made us chilled to the bones, and we didn’t whine about having to stay inside. On those Saturdays my dad would sometimes drive us to the matinee, more for his sake than ours. He wanted us out of the house. We were glad to oblige.
Even as a kid, I loved the sound of rain. On one vacation, in Maine, on a rainy day, I went to the car with my book, settled down in the back seat and read. The sound of the rain on the car roof was like music. The stronger the rain, the louder the music.
During the rainy season in Ghana, everywhere was music. The roof of my classroom was tin, and the sound of the rain hitting the roof was all we could hear. Teaching was impossible. My students would read, but each in turn seemed to stop, look above and listen. It didn’t matter how familiar we were with the sound; it still drew us.
The rain on thatch had a different sort of music, a crisper sound. My back courtyard was concrete, and the rain hit it with a pounding beat. The open sewers ran when it rained, and it was the sound a stream makes, a rippling sound, a burble.
On many a rainy day, I would sit on my front porch under the small tin overhang and listen. Even now I still remember the music.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: chilly rain, cloudy, cool day, flower eating spawn, matinees, maybe rain, rain on thatch, rain on tin, rainy Saturday, sound of rain, Sunday obligations
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
May 16, 2015 at 12:59 pm
The rain is again forecast for this evening and a squall line of heavy thunderstorms is predicted after midnight. When I was a kid Saturdays were the day off to enjoy and inclement weather was always a disappointment. When it occurred I could always find something to do inside. I had a Lionel electric train set that I could assemble and run trains, books to read or model airplanes to build. When I got bored on a rainy Saturday my parents would tell me to go bang my head against the wall if I complained I was bored. Between the internet and cable TV I am still amazed when my kids complained that they were bored on a rainy Saturday.
The weather forecasting in those days was primitive because of the lack of technology that we have today. I remember when the local TV station, WBAP TV, first got weather radar in about 1961. We were still watching in black and white. Their Chief Meteorologist, Harold Taft, was still drawing his weather maps by hand.
May 16, 2015 at 3:19 pm
Bob,
I want some of that rain you’ve been having. It still hasn’t rained yet though it is getting really dark right now so maybe…
My house was small, and there were six of us so there were few places where you wouldn’t run into someone else. I shared a room so my sister had rights to it as well. We agreed on Saturday morning TV but after that who knew what to watch. I always my books but few places to read in solitude.
I too wonder how any kids today could complain about boredom.
I also remember those weather report days-no computers for forecasting or for weather maps. Now we follow hurricanes from their inception; however, we still got maybe rain today!
May 16, 2015 at 3:54 pm
Generally, the low pressure centers that create the fronts that create the clash between the cooler Pacific air and the warm moist Gulf air creates our spring thunderstorms. The subtropical jet stream usually drives the low pressure area across the Southeastern states and up the East coast carrying that Gulf moisture into New Englend. I think you call those storms northeaster’s. The jet stream flow that the TV weathermen trace is usually the winds at the 400 millibar level or approximately 18,000 ft. You can find the 400 millibar chart on the National Weather service website.
So now you too can now predict the rain.
May 16, 2015 at 4:46 pm
Bob,
The worst of our storms are nor’easter, especially in the winter. I always thought these storms blew in from the ocean and were formed when the warmer ocean air hit the cold air from the north. I don’t think they are from your direction.
May 16, 2015 at 1:17 pm
The perfect opportunity for me to share what’s possibly my favorite “rain” song. It’s from what’s got to be one of my top 5 albums of all time, “Once Upon A Dream” by The (Young) Rascals. Stay dry and enjoy.
May 16, 2015 at 3:20 pm
im6,
I didn’t remember this at all. I know its’s not in any of my files or it would have been played by now. Thanks for the introduction!
It has a different sound. I’m not so sure I’d have guess it was The Rascals.
May 16, 2015 at 1:33 pm
Just below 32F here this morning and we had sun for around 15 minutes, now the rain falls on and off. I’m pretty sure we’ll have fog here in the early morning tomorrow because they predict a clear night. It won’t fall below 32 but I think it will be cold enough to create fog.
I’ve always loved the sound of rain but perhaps loved the smell when the rain falls after a draught even more. I always had, like Caryn, my train set that I could have fun with if there was nothing else to do when autumn hit and the heavy rains started. I still have a train set and yes it comes out when autumn arrives 🙂
But book reading was also an impoortant activity for me. Reading wasn’t something people did in my neighborhood so they always thought I was a bit odd 🙂
Have a great day!Christer.
May 16, 2015 at 3:24 pm
Christer,
It is really dark right now so I’m hoping for rain. I’m going to go do a couple of errands so it will probably start just as I get out of the car.
I agree about the smell of rain, but it is summer rain which fills the air with an amazing smell. It is the cold rain hitting the hot pavement. Sometimes I could see a mist rising.
I also have a train set which is in boxes in the cellar. The last time I brought it out the cats attacks, and that was many years ago. I should look for it.
I loved having my nose in a book and could read all day long. I didn’t care what people thought. I was happy.
Have a great evening!
May 16, 2015 at 10:02 pm
Kat,
Rain was always a companion. I grew up in Oregon. No matter the season—rain rained. Or should I say reigned? Each season was different with amount, sound and smell. My son lives in Portland now. It is dryer than in my youth. But still—the rains come every season. I was visiting him recently. We sat on his little deck. And listened to the rain. It did smell like Oregon!
May 16, 2015 at 10:22 pm
t,
I like your homophones. They work wonderfully.
When I think of Oregon, I always think of rain. That has long been its weather reputation.
In Ghana there was the dry season and the rainy season and each of those two seasons had quirks, peculiarities.
Today it rained only tiny a bit, but I could smell the rain when I went to do my errands. I suspect you would think of Oregon even here.