Rainy Fourth

It began to rain about 45 minutes ago on this birthday of our country. I have been watching the weather channel and the computer radar screens to see how long the storms would last. Isn't modern technology a big change? I can remember when Earl Ludlum and channel 7 got their first radar. That's what I have decided to write about today. Memories of summers past and things like the Fourth of July.

There is something special about a summer rain storm in Missouri. I love the sound of the thunder as it rumbles in the distance. It is so powerful and unbelievable. Sometimes the lightning strikes are so strong they seem to shake the house right down to its foundation.

My favorite thing about a summer rain, however, is the smell. From the time I was small I can remember sitting on that big front porch at my grandparents and smelling that special clean odor peculiar to our summer downpours. It's as if, like the words from the country song, the world really does need a washing.

Here in the middle of the greatest farming area on the planet, we never get too upset when it rains on the Fourth of July. The Fourth sort of marks the end of the rainy season which began back in spring. From here on until the fall rains, we have mostly hot and dry days to look forward to. Well for a least a few days the yards will green up again. We won't have to water our trees just yet, and the farmers can take one more easy breath. They hope it is not the last rain of summer and that the crops will be good.

That porch of my grandparents was also a place for summer memories of other things.

The covered porch faced the east so it was shaded and cool in the evenings. They had several rockers and one great piece of furniture called a glider. Back then few people had air conditioning. In the evenings no one spent much time in doors. Instead people sat on porches like theirs. They visited and watched simple things like fire flies. It was not unusual for evening refreshments that ranged from ice tea and lemonade to homemade ice cream or watermelon.

Often it was so hot on those summer nights that many people even here in town found it easier to sleep outside. The sounds of a summer evening and the infinite heaven full of stars provided a great environment in which to sleep. Eating at the Fourth also signaled the beginning of a period of time when we all enjoyed the dishes of summer. There can be no doubt for me that the single greatest food ever, has to be those big ripe red fresh garden tomatoes we will enjoy for the next few weeks. All winter long when I buy a tomato in the grocery store, I lament that they are a poor imitation of the ones from summer.

When we sat down for the Fourth back then the table always had some staples that I shall forever associate with summer. My grandmother never had a table that did not also contain several foods. Corn on the cob.

It is an original food to the American continent as was the potato. Garden lettuce to which my grandmother added fresh green onions and a hot dressing that converted the salad into what we call "wilted lettuce." It is a southern dish that was always one of our favorites.

New potatoes with either new green beans or peas is another garden delight that we Missourians enjoy. Another southern dish is one that only a few acquire a taste for. Cucumbers and onions in a vinegar, water, and sugar solution. Every table used to have this side dish. My problem today is that much as I love cucumbers, they just don't love me anymore.

Along with that home made ice cream mentioned above, fruit deserts were common around this time of summer.

Strawberries and Black Berries abounded then and now.

Is there a better desert in the whole wide world than strawberry short cake. Only blackberry cobbler comes close.

Fireworks in those times was never such a large production. After the big dinners just described we kids would spend as many hours as possible shooting off fire crackers, Roman candles, cracker balls, sparklers, and the infamous M-80s. The town had few large fireworks displays, but fireworks were heard well into the night.

Whether it is rain, sleeping outside, food, or fire works, there is nothing like summer in good old Nevada. File it and remember it. Next February when it is drab and cold, when the trees have no leaves, and when you are sick of winter, remember the Fourth of July.

It is more than our country's birthday, it is the best of times.