How to Make It Rain

by Pa Rock

Water Bearer

Two days ago I wrote a posting in this space about the serious lack of rain in Missouri,  Our governor, who has a laser focus on the needs of his cattle, has declared a "water alert" for the entire state and is even implementing a few measures to conserve water - almost heresy for a good Republican like Mike Parson.

I ran that piece on Wednesday morning and then promptly left town for an overnight stay at a hospital in Northern Arkansas.  It started raining in my hometown almost as soon as I rolled past the city limit sign that morning, and the rain continued until just before I returned home yesterday.  Apparently the drought was not about climate change or Missouri fascist politics, but rather about me personally.

Okay, I suppose I can live with that - as long as I know the rules.

Last year I did not go on any summer trips, and the drought was an unrelenting bitch, and this year I go away for a day and the heavens open up.

If those are the rules, then this summer may be bearable.

This month I will fly out of Kansas City in late June and head to Goldsboro, North Carolina, where a play that I wrote several years ago will have its first official production.  Goldsboro is the home of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base where an old friend from Phoenix runs an amateur theatre group.  Two years ago Janelle and her troupe did a full-length historical drama that I had penned entitled "Crimes in Desolation," and I was able to go out and see it performed on  base.  This year one of their projects is something else that I wrote which has been gathering dust on the shelf for years - a long, one-act hillbilly comedy entitled "The Shine from Dead Man's Bottom."  This year's production will be performed off-base at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Goldsboro.  I will be there for a couple of rehearsals as well as for the two productions - and I am very excited to be able to attend!

The good news for southern Missouri, of course, is that my absence could generate more rain!

In July my sister and I are flying to Oregon for a week to see my daughter and her family.  I wasn't able to make that trip last year, and they came here instead.  So this year's trip will be another chance for rain.

I would also like to travel to Salt Lake City in the fall and do some research and writing at the Mormon Library, but I'm not sure that I can afford three big trips in one season.  Maybe the Missouri Legislature should think about subsidizing that trip.  I mean, an extra week of rain in September ought to be a major benefit for the governor's cattle!

But short of that, I will just keep plodding along and doing what I can to help - now that I know the rules!