Heavy, blustery rain

I may have posted about this before, but occasionally songs from my childhood pop into my head, sometimes for no accountable reason, but sometimes they are sparked by something – something I notice, some aroma or sound, music, a phrase in a book… Today a song has sprung into my head, and is now on a loop, the same phrase over and over, and a memory of childhood. I know what set off my mental juke-box – torrential rain! It started last night, and so heavy that we actually took the car to the village pub as the roads were inches deep in water. Today has been no better and it’s difficult to see properly our of the windows because of the water sheeting down the glass. This is what was forecast –

Today will become an unsettled day with spells of heavy, blustery rain slowly progressing northwards, these persisting for much of the day and potentially bringing some disruption. Breezy.
This evening and the first part of tonight will stay overcast and wet, with rain turning more showery but still giving heavy downpours at times. Overnight, rain will clear northwards as winds ease.
BBC weather  https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2634308

“Spells of weather” is a gross understatement – the rain was continual, ranging from heavy downpour to torrential deluge. Our road has lying water all across it, puddles have merged to create pools, and I know there will be standing water on the road which goes along beside the steep hill on the south of the village. (By the way, although dramatic, the hill does not give its name to Uphill – the village was once Oppa’s pill, a landing stage and little harbour on the local pill or river, for Oppa – a Viking) These flooded roads my husband has named Hoddermere after a local inhabitant whose home is near, and Follymere after a nearby lane.

Back to my introduction when I mentioned songs and music. I was thinking of what my mental juke-box was playing “The day that the rains came down“. Now I have looked this up, and strangely the title is “The day the rains came down” missing out ‘that‘ – and I have listened to two versions, and both have ‘that the‘ in them – because otherwise the word would have to be dragged – ‘tha-at‘.

The day that the rains came down
Mother Earth smiled again
Now the lilacs could bloom
Now the fields could grow greener
The day that the rains came down
Buds were born, love was born
As the young buds will grow
So our young love will grow
Love, sweet love
A robin sang a song of love
A willow tree reached up to the heavens
As if to thank the sky above
For all that rain, that welcome rain
We looked across the meadow-land
And seemed to sense a kind of a miracle
Much too deep to understand
And there we were, so much in love
The day that the rains came down
Mountain streams swelled with pride
Gone the dry river bed
Gone the dust from the valley
The day that the rains came down
Buds were born, love was born
As the young buds will grow
So our young love will grow
Love, sweet love
Rain, sweet rain.

Here’s more from Wikipedia:

“The Day the Rains Came” or “Am Tag als der Regen kam” or “La pioggia cadrà” is an adaptation of the French song “Le Jour où la pluie viendra“. The latter is a popular song released in 1957, composed and written by Gilbert Bécaud and Pierre Delanoë. Bécaud’s version reached number 3 in Wallonia, in a tandem ranking, and number 20 in Flanders. In the United Kingdom, an English language version by Jane Morgan went to number one for a week in 1959. That version also reached number 4 in Canada.

By the way, I went to school with a girl called Jane Morgan, and no she was not that Jane Morgan, but became an esteemed professor at Cambridge University