“Rain, rain go away. Come again another day. Rain, rain go away. Little Johnny wants to play.” I suspect saying this over and over won’t have any affect. This is the second day of cold, chilling rain. Last night the rain was heavy, and I fell asleep to the plinking of drops on the roof. Last night was also cold again, in the 30’s. I watched the Sox play Philly (they lost their perfect record), and when the camera followed the pitcher ‘s wind-up, I was distracted by seeing the pitcher’s breath and watching him trying to keep his hands warm. The players were bundled as much as they could be. Long sleeves were part of the uniform of the night. It was football weather.

When I was really young, I learned all the nursery rhymes from listening to my mother. She’d say them in a sing-song voice which my ears loved hearing. I remember seeing a ladybug outside on a leaf and telling her to fly away home, her house was on fire and her children were gone. All the Littles were friends of mine. I felt bad for Little Bo Peep and Little Boy Blue but really bad for Little Miss Muffet and her new founded fear of hungry spiders. I am a child born on the Sabbath, fair and wise and good in every way. I liked quoting that one. Some of them I could sing, badly, but it didn’t matter. They were fun. Old MacDonald’s was the best with all the animals sounds. Row, Row, Row your Boat was a round but somehow we always ended up finishing on the same lines no matter when we started.

Thinking about these rhymes got me to look them up, and I was surprised to find out how old some of them are. Little Bo Peep lost her sheep in 1805 and Little Boy Blue fell asleep in 1744. Miss Muffet has had her spider phobia since 1805. Ding Dong Bell is the oldest dating from 1580, that poor kitty.

I don’t know if nursery rhymes are still popular, but I really hope they are though it would be okay with me if the kitty finally came out of the well.