Reading My Way Around the World

Tuesday 6 May 2014

Making friends with the rain

My father used to say 
"If you can see the mountains, it's going to rain.   
If you can't see them, it's already raining".  
I can still hear him laughing when he said it.  

Clouds gathering over the 12 Bens

Ireland is known as the green island or the Emerald Isle. 
But that green comes at a price - the flippin' rain is never far away.
Watching the weather forecast is a national obsession.  
It'll be good on Thursday so we'll mow the lawn then!!!

 From the lightest of drizzles to the downpour we had yesterday or the endless weeks of rain over Christmas and New Year ... You can't be annoyed with rain and live in Ireland. 
But endless days of grey are no fun.   

Roundstone Harbour

As a child I used to love playing in the summer rain.  Jumping in puddles.   
It would be brilliant to have a summerhouse and keep the doors open 
and smell the rain as it bounces on the ground.  
Everything smells and looks newly washed and the birdsong fills every hedge 
after each shower.  

Once we visited a house in Germany where all rooms were built around a central fireplace and one of the rooms had no walls.   We were sitting inside, but outside, in the Spring rain, with our coats on and the fire lit, with the birds flying under the eaves to build their nests.   Simply wonderful.  

It'll rain soon

Yesterday was his anniversary - 28 years.  I still miss him.  
Still watching the mountains Daddy x

Do you have much rain where you are?   Did your family have their own sayings?   
You know I love to hear from you.





18 comments:

  1. Just to add a bit of science. Falling rain produces negative ions which are extremely good for you. Being from England we got a lot of rain although not as much as they had this past winter. We get a fair amount of rain in Ontario, Canada although when it gets colder it turns into that white stuff.

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    1. So that's why it's such a good feeling in the summer ...:)

      They had such a terrible time in the South of England and the South of Ireland this winter ... awful. Still not recovered in some areas...

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  2. This is a beautiful post, I am so glad to have met you during the A to Z. We live in the desert mountains, but we are still supposed to get rain/snow. However, these past three years the state of California is in a drought. It has now accelerated into an extreme drought. But I couldn't see the mountains across the road this morning and we did get a few drops of rain.

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    1. Likewise Inger :)
      I remember it being very dry the time I visited southern California ... do you get a real burst of vegetation after the rain?

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  3. I've always loved the rain. It's so refreshing and pretty. Raindrops keep falling on my head was one of the first songs I learned all the words to, when I was just a wee little girl. Oh, I sang that one to the ends of the earth too...first time I sang it was for my dad...I miss him too...

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    1. I loved that song :) I think it may have had something to do with Paul Newman or Robert Redford *swoon* :)

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  4. My life is devoid of mountains I'm afraid but here in my part of England we do have plenty of the wet stuff! I think one of my favourite rainy songs is "Drip, drip drop Little April Shower" from Bambi - I can remember doing dance (during our water topic) with some of the youngest children at my school to a techno remix version of it which they loved!

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    1. I cried through Bambi - love that song too. What part of England are you in? Were you ok through the wet winter?

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    2. Here in the West Midlands we were pretty much O.K. obviously heading south was totally different - Worcester kept being closed due to the flood water being too dangerous under the main bridges carrying traffic into the centre of the city.

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    3. It was awful watching it all on the news … I felt so sorry for those people … and it keeps happening year after year.

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  5. I love your Daddy's words. They inspired big smile and I grateful for that.

    As for rain, I'm blessed to live in a place where it comes and goes, a bit more frequent in spring and autumn, but tempered with enough sunshine in between so as to never become too overwhelming. But my world is not green as yours! It a place I'd love to visit sometime. :)

    Enjoy the rains and your relationship with each and every drop. Or ... just do your best.

    And thanks again for sharing your Da's words. His spirit lives on!

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  6. Nice triubute to your Daddy, sorry for your loss. I would have to move, that much would make me batty. Popping round to let folks know anyone who left more then a handful of comments during the recent challenge has been added to my blog log to share some linky love and to make visiting easier...you're of them! Have an awesome day.

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    1. Aw cheers Sandy … that's brilliant - thank you. You know at least once a year we talk about moving to somewhere warmer! and then the sun shines and you forget again … for another while … as I get older I'm starting to think that short memories are a blessing!!

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  7. Such sweet words about your dad. I've been to Ireland once and it rained quite a bit :)

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    1. Oh dear! The Germans say they don't come to Ireland for the sun , but it sure helps when it arrives!!

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  8. We usually have some pretty decent rainy weather in the spring (like now). Love rainstorms in the summer though. Once the mountain is in full bloom and a rainstorm hits, it's definitely food for the soul.

    Father Nature's Corner

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    1. I've only seen that sort of storm once and it was exhilarating! That's rain for standing out in...

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