Summer Rains and Memories

Falling RainThe past two days we have had rain in Kansas City. Monday felt almost autumn-like – cool, with a steady rain that lasted all day. Tuesday was warmer, steamier, but still grey and dreary. I sat writing in my journal on Tuesday, the room dark, no sunshine streaming in my face as it does most summer mornings.

I should be grateful for the rain. The past month has been hot and dry. We own farmland near Kansas City, and the crops need the moisture.

But as a desert girl, I never like the rain.

The rain this week has brought back memories of rainy days during our summer vacations. Most of our family vacations were spent lakeside, as I have described before. Our days were usually bright, and only sunburn and fatigue sent us indoors. Without air conditioning in the cabins where we stayed, it was more comfortable outside.

Occasionally, however, it rained, and we were forced to spend the day inside. Games were fun for awhile, but we quickly grew bored when no other activities were possible. The cabins were not designed for lengthy spells indoors – too few chairs, lumpy sofas, and not enough bedrooms for privacy.

Priest Lake, photo from Wikipedia

Priest Lake on a cloudy day, photo from Wikipedia

One year, when I was in about the fifth grade, my family vacationed with another family on Priest Lake in Idaho. Our two families shared a cabin, and all the kids slept together upstairs in a single room.

The other family had a daughter a year older than me, and on one rainy day, she took it into her head to wash her hair in the rainwater. She asked if I wanted to wash mine as well.

The day was dank, and the rain looked cold to me. The idea of washing my hair in frigid water didn’t really appeal to me. But not wanting to be a spoilsport, I said, “Sure.”

We put all the pots and pans we could find outside to collect the rain. By late afternoon, we had about a gallon of water. Not enough for two hair-washings. I gladly let her go first.

I couldn’t tell that her hair looked any better for the rainwater rinse, but I kept my mouth shut. We still had several days left in the week to bunk together.

What memories do you have of rainy summer days?

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