RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY!

   TUESDAY, AUGUST 14TH., 2018
         RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY!

     By now I suspect a lot of people
are thinking about that verse little
kids can be heard to sing when showers
come along. My grandson does a pretty
good rendition.
      It's been around for a very long
time! But it's also changed a bit over
the years.
      Similar versions can be traced back
to ancient Greece. The first English version
goes back to the 17th century when a guy
named James Howell wrote "Raine, raine,
goe to Spain, faire weather come againe."
         As a kid I sometimes enjoyed a
rainy day. I'd play on our small back
porch where toys that used to belong to
my older brother were packed away
waiting to be rediscovered by the likes
of me.
        On days like that our L-shaped front
porch, covered by the floor of the porch
above, became a refuge from the rain
drops as my friends and I used it as a
fortress for our games of cops and
robbers or Cowboys and Indians.
         My wife tells me when the
rains came to her backyard, without
lighting that is, she and her brothers
and sisters would often dawn their
bathing suits and use their wet grass
as a water park, sliding across the
grass!
         The recent storms around our
area have been generally too strong
to allow outdoor play so kids take them
games inside and repeat the age old
chant, "Rain, rain, go away."
          Hope it works soon, and that
all your NEWS is good!