There have been more than a few songs recorded about rain.
“Rhythm of the Rain,” by the Cascades in 1962.
“I Wish It Would Rain,” by the Temptations in 1967.
“Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” by B.J. Thomas in 1969.
“Rainy Days and Mondays,” by the Carpenters in 1971.
“I Love a Rainy Night,” by Eddie Rabbit in 1980.
The list goes on and on.
My favorite?
Johnny Carson and Bette Midler’s improvised version of “Here’s That Rainy Day” shared on The Tonight Show on May 21, 1992.
I love rain. So, please, don’t rain on my parade.
The Horn house in Alliance has received 5.5 inches of rain since May 1.
It has been the answer to a multitude of prayers.
“It’s been a lifesaver,” a local farmer told me Saturday night.
Drive around Box Butte County and the Sandhills, and I believe you will agree.
The past five weeks of rain will go down as one of the most memorable in my 66 years on this planet.
The others?
July 1966. An overnight thunderstorm dropped three inches on the acreage where I resided near Malcolm, NE. All the ponds and creeks overflowed. As a seven-year-old child, this meant the capturing of numerous toads and frogs. As Festus Hagen once exclaimed during an episode of Gunsmoke, “It rained toady frogs!”
July 1990. I was at Wrigley Field in Chicago waiting out a Friday afternoon 90-minute rain delay baseball games between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs. The sound system engineer at the stadium played many of the songs listed at this column’s beginning. Many of us sat in the rain and sang along.
Memorial Day Weekend, 1996. The rain began on Friday morning and did not stop until the day after Memorial Day. It was a gracious soaker. No downpours which I recall. Local gauges collected three to four inches of rain. A glorious weekend for our farmers and ranchers.
July 2001. Three to five inches of rain drowned Alliance in one hour. Manhole covers popped out of their groves and were replaced by patrolling police officers. An expansion project at Box Butte General Hospital saw several portions of drywall soaked and had to be replaced.
Memorial Day weekend, 2015. Cynthia and I attended the Hemingford all-school reunion dinner at the Box Butte County Fairgrounds. On this Sunday evening, it rained so hard on the metal roof of the multi-purpose hall that it deafened attendees. Afterwards, the southside of the fairgrounds were flooded with six to 12 inches of water.
Memorial Day weekend, 2025. After surviving the frightening drought of 2024 and early 2025, it finally let loose. My rain gauge collected 2.25 inches of rain. My friend, Brian Kuhn of Hemingford, received 4.5 inches. Obviously, he leads a cleaner life than I do. Especially after getting rained on that much.
“I’m singin’ in the rain, just singin’ in the rain.
What a glorious feelin’, I’m happy again!
I walk down the lane with a happy refrain.
Just singin’, singin’ in the rain!” – Gene Kelly, 1952.