Wonderful rain

Summers growing up in Minnesota were always pretty nice. It was hot and sunny most of the time. It would rain every once in a while, and we'd pout and go inside and watch TV or play Nintendo. But if it didn't rain for a few weeks or a month at a time no one was worried, it was cause for joy. The lawns didn't get too bad, we'd just water them. There are 10,000 lakes to get water from. There's tons of water in Minnesota.

Fast forward to the present. I live in Montana, a mountainous state in the west. There are two big lakes in the state and a few smaller ones, mostly up in the mountains. There are lots of rivers in and around the mountains but they rely on what kind of snowfall there was in the previous winter.

About two months ago it got nice out. Sunny and warm and big blue skies--and it has stayed that way since. Coming from my background, I love it. Perfect days every day, what more could a guy ask for. That is, until you start driving out into the country and see the fields and trees starting to turn a little less green.

In Montana we've got these two little problems: drought and forest fires. When it doesn't rain for months I'm thinking "Wow, it sure is nice, I hope it stays like this." most Montanans are thinking "Which comes first, rain or a sky choked with black smoke from the fire raging in the nearby National Forest?"

So when I woke up this morning to the pitter-patter of rainfall outside I was actually like a Montanan and thought "What a beautiful day for rain."