Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head.” I wish. Remember that song? It was a part of the soundtrack for the funny western, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. B.J. Thomas was the singer who had the good fortune of being chosen to sing the song and, if he has plenty of money today, that song was the goose that laid the golden egg.

I heard a few raindrops this week. I don’t know how because there is no hole in the roof of my house, but the metal hood that is above our stove pinged a little with raindrops Monday afternoon. I had not heard that sound in so long that I hurried to the backdoor and looked out on the wooden deck. Sure enough, there were raindrops splattering on the planks. It didn’t rain long, but some, and I was thankful for whatever fell.

It was the sort of rain that my daddy used to describe as “three drops on a brick.” It wasn’t enough to measure in a rain gauge; not quite a sprinkle, but I was hopeful. Maybe it was just priming the pump for a “real” rain in just a few days.

Thursday seems to be a day of promise and, if a thunderstorm develops as predicted, and if there’s no lightning, I am going to let a few raindrops fall on my head. Or perhaps I’ll take an umbrella and do a little Singin’ in the Rain.

The rain gauge that sits on the fence in my backyard is made of plastic so the gunk in the bottom is not rust, but sure looks like it. I’ve been waiting for some rain to wash that gunk out, but decided that if any water was going to get in the rain gauge, I’d better take it inside to the sink and fill it up with city water.

It would also be a good gesture to wash it out with a little soap. I did and now it is ready for the rain for which we have all been praying. How about a Rainy Night in Georgia? I just hope we don’t get so much that we’ll be singing Who’ll Stop the Rain! I can’t imagine that today.

Whether it rains or not, though, it has not stopped the farmers from planting their seed. Right now it seems to be peanuts. There are more “goobers” being put in the ground these weeks than you can “shake a stick at.” Farming has to be an act of faith.

A farmer cannot afford to wait for rain. The window for planting our seeds opens and closes whether it rains or doesn’t. Farming has many variables when it comes to success, but there is one variable that is absolutely necessary for success. That is the seed. Plant no seed and harvest no crop.

Whether it rains or not, seed must be planted. Once the seed is planted, something else is needed. Water.

Thankfully, much of our farmland is irrigated. That’s not a guarantee for successful yields, but at least a lack of water will not be the cause of the failure.

Our farmers are not the only people who enjoy the right amount of rain. Donna Sue’s garden needs the rain, too. She might not be feeding the nation with her plants, but she feeds our souls with the beauty of her garden. Water is needed there, too and the preferred water source is not the City of Bainbridge’s, but my second favorite mother, Mother Nature.

Join with me and pretend “Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head.”