Singing In The Rain

Every time it rains I hear people complain. It seems that your average person does not like rain very much. I've never understood this attitude, as I've always found the days when it rains to be calm and relaxing.

My love of the rain began when I was a child. We grew up in the hot, dusty and sunny area known as San Bernardino County (in California). The summers were always incredibly hot ... so hot that you could, as the saying goes, fry an egg on the pavement.

In the summer we would get out the water slides, hoses and plastic swimming pools and get good and wet. It was the only real way to keep our body temperature down, and it was good fun to boot.

I never understood the difference between getting wet on purpose in the summer and getting wet in the winter. I remember looking out the window one morning and thinking, "cool, it's raining". I ran out the door and, needless to say, got thoroughly soaked. My mother was upset because she said I would "catch a cold". I never did (at least not after getting wet from the rain) and I never lost my love of water falling from the sky.

My young eyes would scan the ground looking for things. I watched the water rush down the street to the storm drains, and wondered where it wound up. I liked to sit and watch the turbulence as the water rushed to and fro, like it was in a hurry to get to who knows where.

Even more fun was going to the hills with my dad after the rain, and seeing the effect that the water had on the rocks and such. I was fascinated by the huge gullies, newly formed, that zigzagged down the mountain slopes. I was very impressed and more than a little respectful of the power of water. I had seen what it could do.

Most of all, I loved to see what the water washed up. Earthworms came out of the ground, presumably to see the rain as well. Snails wandered around the sidewalk - they obviously preferred water to dry air. Lots of other bugs and creatures popped their heads and bodies out of their holes, perhaps to see what was happening or maybe their homes were flooded.

These days, I still love it when it rains. Not as much as when I was a kid ... now I have to drive to work in the cold, wet stuff after all. Still, rain always make me feel a little happy, remembering those days long ago, watching the earthworms pop their little heads out of the ground.

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