Sometimes we get what we ask for!

Often in springtime when it is raining every day and we are wishing the rain would go away, I say to myself and others that I wish we could save some of this rain for July and August. That would sound like an almost ideal arrangement, having rains show up in the middle of summer, right when the ground is driest and the pastures and hay crops are hurting. How great it would have seemed in July and August of 1953 and 1954, those fierce drought years in northern Arkansas, to have had some rain, almost any kind of rain. Well, the spring of 2013 was a rainy spring, and I often said I wish we could save some of this for July. So, come July, it rained and rained and rained!

Was I happy that it rained — that the weather saved all this moisture for July? Well, no. There were two parts of me at odds when this rain was coming. One part of me was acknowledging it is really dry, and we really need rain; but the other part of me was saying, No, not right now, not THIS evening! Tomorrow maybe, but not tonight! One part of me was the farmer, with pastures drying up and soil parched from lack of rain. The other part of me was working with the Lions Club’s Lawnmower Races on Saturday night, the 20th of July, with nearly 300 people gathered from all around the area, looking forward to the exciting entertainment coming up for the evening.

At mid-afternoon, I was still saying, I think Mother Nature has forgotten how to do rain. O yeah, except for that Saturday evening in June when we were all set to listen to the Barbed Wire band on the school ground downtown, when from out of nowhere came rain and lightning to shorten the concert. But as our evening hour for the races approached, the clouds were dark and menacing all around us, especially to the north. The breeze was cool, a welcome cool at first, but as the minutes passed, it got cooler, and stronger, and at one point we had a fierce wind coming from the east. The limbs of the great oak trees that had been shading us were waving and straining in the force of the wind, and people were covering their eyes against the wind and dust.

Still we were able to start the races, and successfully ran two exciting heats. It is quite a sight to see these modified lawn tractors ripping and rearing around the track, sliding around the turns, and accelerating down the straight-of-ways, passing one another with a surges of power, and maneuvering for position. On the second race, one of the racers spun out, ending up cross-ways on the track, so for a bit there was a yellow flag, but then it was cleared and there was a furious charge as the powerful little engines pushed ahead for the last several laps. Then of course comes the victory lap, as the victor carries the checkered flag in his moment of triumph. We were having a great time; Tommy Elmore from KURM Radio was excitedly calling the race for the radio broadcast, and we were saying things like, “Maybe this weather will hold off after all!”

But then a streak of lightning hit east of us near Buttram’s Chapel, drops of rain started pelting around us, and people started for their cars. We called an intermission to see just what the weather would do, and interestingly most of the crowd took refuge in their cars, but stayed in place, waiting and watching for an opportunity to resume. The first shower of rain was pretty strong, and some of us got wet even though we were under a tent, but our racers were still game to go again if the weather cleared, and our crowd was still waiting in their cars. So, as the rain stopped falling, Big Mike announced that we would resume the race in a few minutes, people started coming back from their cars and finding bleacher seats, and the racers were revving their motors once again. But, before we could resume, this ominous cloud came out of Missouri, heavy gray and black, shooting photon torpedoes and laser rays, and we had a real gully washer on our hands. Everyone headed for cover in cars and pickups and tents, and the races were called off, much to our dismay.

Sometimes I am glad that I am not the Father above, with his farmers praying from rain, and his people with big events praying that the rain stays away. There seems to be no way to please everyone when it comes to rain and weather. Then there are the people like me who have been earnestly praying for rain, and talking about how badly we need a rain, but when the rain comes in we end up saying, “NO, not now, not right now, anytime but now, later maybe!” I seem to be all over the place with my ’druthers. Part of me is lamenting how dry it is. Part of me is contentedly laying by my lawn for the season and putting the mower away. Ok, I’m having to get my lawn mower out again; my garden is looking up; there may be a second cutting of hay on the farm after all! Life goes on!

••• Editor’s note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is an award-winning columnist, a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history. He is vice president of the Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at joe369@centurytel.net, or call 621-1621.