As a child, when it would rain, I had a tendency to grab an umbrella, run out in the middle of the street and pretend to be Gene Kelly. I would belt out Singin' In The Rain and try to dance in the soggy gutters. Most of the neighbors would politely ignore this demonstration but, across the street, the Bionic Avon Lady, whom I've mentioned before, claimed to love the performance. I think it started to lose it's appeal when I entered my mid 20s. It's unfair, but, apparently, if an eight year old dances and sings in the street it is considered cute at best, precocious, at worst. However, just let a 26 year old man do it and the authorities have to get involved. I thought of this yesterday as I walked the dog.

The dog will walk whatever the weather. I've learned that if I postpone his walk for any length of time after arriving home, he gets agitated. He stalks me from room to room. Whenever I stand up, he jumps toward the door. It can be frigid. It can be snowy. It can be icy. It can be rainy. It can be roasting. This dog, a true creature of habit, needs his walk. So, yesterday, in the gentle sogginess, we headed out the door. Of course, by the time we were home he was mostly soaked. Forget potpourri and incense, nothing says SPRING like the smell of wet dog.

As we strolled through the drips, I found myself humming and whistling a medley of rain-related tunes. Many years ago, my Uncle Selmer, a very gentle and kind man, used to hum and whistle and say "Yes, sir" rather randomly, to nobody in particular. My brothers and I would imitate him and think we were funny. Well, now I find myself doing the same thing. I've actually been walking through a grocery store or hallway at a school and found myself humming or whistling...sometimes in the middle of an on-going conversation. Apparently, my mind must wander. Apparently, my mind must wander. Apparently, my mind must wander. Apparently, me mind must wan....

So, I'm walking the dog. Of course the first song melody that entered my noggin was the aforementioned Singin' In The Rain...followed by Just Walkin' in the Rain, then Crying in the Rain, then Rhythm of the Rain, then Rainy Days and Mondays, then Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head, then Come Rain or Come Shine, then Stormy Weather, then Here's That Rainy Day, then Pennies From Heaven ("Every time it rains, it rains pennies from heaven...") then, Rain In My Heart and I Love a Rainy Night and Kentucky Rain and It's Raining Again and Blue Eyes Cryin' In The Rain and on and on and on. (We took a reasonably lengthy walk.) Clearly, many songwriters hate the letter "g" and leave it off "ing" words whenever possible.

I rounded out my rainy repertoire with The Cloudy Skies Will Clear Up. That's a song you've most likely never heard. It was written by a couple of brothers up in Madison Wisconsin when I was on TV there. The main weather guy was a singer/piano-player named Elmer Childress. These two brothers liked the fact that the weather team at our station was made up of a couple of song and dance men so they wrote a song for us. We even used it as a promo about our weather coverage. No breathless delivery...no action shots of weather people running around the place...no bragging about who has the biggest doppler. Just, a song performed be a couple of guys. It got the biggest response of any little promotional spot I've ever been involved in...not because of me, certainly, but because of Elmer and the great song. Maybe I should dig that tune out of the piano bench again!

Most of this soggy opera was just in my head...I think. However, I may have let loose with a note or two out loud. That would explain the fruit and vegetables tossed my way every now and then. Not everybody is as good an audience as the Bionic Avon Lady of my youth.