Rain Signs

When I woke up this morning and glanced out the window, there was a glorious sunrise. Grandpa always told me that if there was a red sky in the morning that there would be rain later in the day, (Red sky in the morning, sailor's take warning.  Red sky at night, sailor's delight.)

Then, when I stepped outside to get a better look at the sky, I heard a rain crow just singing its heart out. Grandpa always said that it was sure to rain when you hear the song of the rain crow. For years, I had no idea what a rain crow's true name was. One day I heard one and commented on it to a co-worker.  He looked at me a bit strangely and asked me if I was referring to the yellow-billed cuckoo! I told him about the lore surrounding the rain crow and then it became a game each time that we heard one to see if the bird's predictions came true. It usually did rain!

I never do see a red sunrise or hear a rain crow without having an immediate flashback to my childhood and all of the wonderful lore that Grandpa passed on to me.

Two rain signs this morning.  Let's see if it does rain later today!

UPDATE:  By noon today, the trees were starting to turn up their leaves, which is another sign of coming rain.  By 2 pm, the skies were dark and it started POURING around 2:10 pm.  Of course, then the sun came out and the humidity was somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,500%!  Now, at 4:05 pm, it is getting dark again and I can hear thunder rumblin' in the distance.

Maybe the local television stations need to hire that rain crow . . .

(Here is a Linkto  a good audio of the cuckoo's song.)

Copyright 2012--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean.