Rain is a Good Thing

My father grew up in southern California as the wave of Oklahomans driven by the dust bowl and the depression tried to ilk out a living in the fields around Los Angles and the Imperial Valley. He swam in a lake called “The blue hole” for its deep, clear, mountain fed spring.  But away from the mountains there were no springs or lakes. Where there was artificial irrigation, the desert was green. The sun, temperature, and soil were perfect for growing produce that he called “truck” because that is where the produce disappeared- in east bound trucks and trains.

Farmers that could not afford irrigation waited, and prayed, for rain. Half a century later, the habit learned by him as a boy in rain scarce Southern California, was passed on to his boys. Dad would sit on our porch and watch the rain fall, grinning and laughing. We lived in Illinois, and we only had an acre sized home garden, but rain was important to his psyche. We would watch the thunderheads approach slowly at night from the open plains, with “heat lightning” giving way to full blown thunderstorms. Rain was important. 

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“It is He who makes the lightning flash upon you, inspiring you with fear and hope, and gathers up the heavy clouds. The thunder sounds His praises, and the angels, too, in awe of him. He hurls his thunderbolts at whom He pleases. Yet the unbelievers wrangle about God.” –Quran

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Rain is a Good Thing (Bryan) Excerpt

My daddy spent his life lookin' up at the sky
He'd cuss, kick the dust, sayin', "Son, it's way too dry"
If it clouds up in the city, the weather man complains
But where I come from, rain is a good thing

Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey
Whiskey makes my baby feel a little frisky
Back roads are boggin' up, my buddies pile up in my truck
We hunt our honeys down, we take 'em into town
Start washin' all our worries down the drain
Rain is a good thing

Farmer Johnson does a little dance
Creeks on the rise, roll up your pants
Country girls, they wanna cuddle
Kids out playin' in a big mud puddle

Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey
Whiskey makes my baby feel a little frisky
Back roads are boggin' up, my buddies pile up in my truck
We hunt our honeys down, we take 'em into town
Start washin' all our worries down the drain
Rain is a good thing