God has a sense of humor.

My blogger friends have listened to me for two or three years, moaning and groaning about the lack of rain.  I didn’t realize Mother Nature was just saving it up so she could give it to us all at once.  I told my husband to remind me of how much I've been wanting rain, in case I start griping about it now.  In 1992 I wrote a poem about this, when we lived in our old two-story house.

NEVER CURSE THE RAIN  by Donna Wood

Because I've seen some years of drought, I never curse the rain,

For once you've had to do without, you learn to not complain.

Our old roof leaks a little more with every passing year,

But never mind how hard it pours; I'm happy living here.

I have to say I miss the sun when clouds control the sky,

I'll be glad when the rain is done.  (It will stop, by and by.)

But I'll take what the Father sends and thank Him for it all.

The sun and rain are both my friends, so let the sweet rain fall!

If trials come into my life, they're sent here for a reason

My character is shaped by strife that comes in its due season.

When everything is said and done, the good Lord knows what's best

He gives us rain, then sends the sun; by both, our lives are blessed.

In case you are wondering, we did have a leak in the roof back then... it wasn't in the two-story part of the house... and no money to fix it.  It was right above the bathroom stool.  The good thing about that was that we didn't have to put a pan or bucket under the leak to catch the water; the bad thing was that if you were using the stool when it was raining, you had a constant drip... drip... drip on your head.  Later on Cliff, with brother-in-law Patrick, got the leak fixed somehow.  The grandson who lives in the house now has had it remodled, so all the troubles we had are a thing of the past.

Last night there was quite a thunderstorm going on when my dog and I were ready to go to bed.  I always send Gabe out to potty first, and I knew it would present a problem; I don't know of any dog that likes to pee in the rain.  However, if I stand on the porch and remind him of why he's out there, he usually manages.  Not this time, because of the thunder and lightning.  He lifted his leg (good dog), but then came a booming light show that shook the ground and Gabe turned and ran up to the door.  Oh well, I figured he could hold it.  

He was so scared of the lightning that he wouldn't lay down after I put him in his cage and shut the door.  I do not let dogs sleep in my bed; but since Cliff has been sleeping in a chair again because of his aches and pains from working so much on that old tractor, I decided to let him get up on the bed with me... NOT under the covers or on the pillows and sheets, just on the bedspread.  After thirty minutes of him shaking and still refusing to lie down, I put him back in his cage.

At  six in the morning, I go out to feed the cats and let them in the garage for the day where I can keep them fed.  I can't leave it open for them at night because of racoons.  Then I come inside, put Gabe's breakfast in his bowl, and turn him out.  He normally eats his breakfast as fast as he can, then goes outside.  Eating is his biggest pleasure in life, sort of like me.  This morning he ran to the bowl, but realized he needed to do something before he started and ran to the door.  I would never have thought an 18-pound dog could pee that long; then he went a little further and did the rest of his duties in the rain, but there was no thunder to scare him. 

We've had over four inches of rain in three days, and there's more coming today.  Let the sweet rain fall.