Well it Ain’t gonna rain no more no more.
It ain’t gonna rain no more
How in the heck can I wash my neck
when it ain’t gonna rain no more?
Sadly, this is not the weather forecast I got for the next few days. More rain is on the way and many of us here in California are tired of it. Rain can make us sad but as Longfellow said: “Into each life some rain must fall.”
It’s rainin’, rainin’, rainin’ here this morning.
Now there’s an accurate weather forecast. As I sit here this morning Grandpa Jones is as accurate a meteorologist as I can find. Other weather forecasters are accurate as well:
Rain and snow, oh Lord. Left me out in the cold rain and snow.
The snow level has been low with many of the recent storms. The Sierra range is being crushed by the weight of yards of new snow. And some of the storms have come with blustery wind:
And he made a fiddle bow of her long yellow hairOh, the wind and rainHe made a fiddle bow of her long yellow hairCrying oh the dreadful wind and rain
The Carter Family sang about such weather too:
Dark and stormy weather / It still inclines to rain
The clouds hang over sinners / My love’s gone away on a train
The Carter Family also gave us this:
Well, I ain’t going to work tomorrow And I may not work next day.
Well I ain’t going to work tomorrow For it be a wet, rainy day.
I have been trying to ride my bike this year every day but it gets to be pretty difficult when your usual joyful spin through beautiful landscape is reduced to a cold slog through walls of water. I visited my friends on the central coast last week and I had to ride a couple of days in the rain anyway despite being so close to (usually sunny) Southern California.
Rain, rain, rain. You’re lonesome company but it’s just you and me tonight
Rain can be a time for romance. With nothing else to do but stay at home maybe there will be a baby boom from all this deluge. We’ll see. Sometimes we are separated:
Oh, someone has taken you from me And left me here all alone
Just to listen to the rain beat on my window pane In our little cabin home on the hill
The rain is slowly falling and, dear, I am recalling The brighter days when you were by my side
Now that we have parted I’m blue and brokenhearted.
Please come on home and maybe I won’t cry
Raindrops, pretty little raindrops Makes me think, my dear, of tears I’ve shed Falling on my windowpane, I know I’ll never be the same
Without you, I wish that I were dead
The Carter Family repertoire is pretty heavily into rain. But rain brings blessings. New flowers, filled reservoirs. Although we’re tired of the constant rain right now we may be wishing for rain again come August. I rode my bike up to the Lopez Reservoir near Arroyo Grande last week and people were gathered to see the spectacle of their lake overflowing the spillway for the first time in many years. From 22% capacity a year before. the reservoir was now overflowing.
There is sunshine in the shadows There is sunshine in the rain
There is sunshine in our sorrows Though our hearts are filled with pain There is sunshine when we’re burdened There is sunshine when we pray
There is sunshine, heavenly sunshine Blessed sunshine all the way
At the edge of many rain showers there is the promise of hope in the beautiful sight of a rainbow:
Way out where rainbows touch down I’ll start all over again (Bluegrass Cardinals)
I the book of Genesis, a rainbow is proof of God’s covenant with humans:
God gave Noah the rainbow sign
No more water, but the fire next time
Someday you’ll find the end of my rainbow,
And maybe you’ll find a little pot of gold.
Someday while running around,You’ll find what we never found.
A golden mist, A rainbow’s kiss,
That all comes down in a little pot of gold.
Someday those silver clouds will come lifting
That seem to cover up my gold.
But there is nothing I can do,
While that I am feeling blue,
But chase those little rainbows in my soul.
We need to be patient. It may seem like the rain will never end but someday the clouds will be lifting and we will be playing music together again in the beautiful sunshine of spring and summer. Perhaps we’ll play a few tunes about rain.
