It’s been raining all day. Oscillating between what I call Amsterdam rain, so fine you hardly notice it until you go out. More like mist than rain. To raining cats and dogs like it is now. Raining so hard there is no chance for the watersprouts and gutters to handle it. I got soaked just taking out the trash. There’s no real danger of flooding right now so I actually enjoy listening to the deluge. Snug in a warm room. Watching candle flames dance. Reading a bit and listening to music.
Curious as I am, I have wondered about where – raining cats and dogs – comes from. I found this article on the Library of Congress web page that details the history of it’s usage. And spent a fun moment reading through the list of expressions for heavy rain on Wikipedia. Containing two Swedish ones that are in my vocabulary. And one that isn’t.
Det regnar smådjävlar – ‘It is raining little devils’. This I’ve heard but never used.
Det regnar småspik – ‘It is raining small nails’. Has an equivalent in Spanish with a good explanation – not only is it raining a lot, but it’s so cold and windy that being hit by the drops hurts. That kind of rain is not unusual here when we’re getting close to winter and sub zero temperatures.
Regnet står som spön i backen – ‘The rain stands like canes hitting the ground’. This is when it’s raining so hard each drop makes a splash when landing on the already water covered ground.
After this I think I have just the rain song for tonight’s Saturday Song.
When the weather is
Raining cats, dogs and pitchforks
Humans must beware
©RedCat
Read other Haibun’s written for the monthly dVerse prompt by me here.
Read other Daily Haibun’s here.
Images from National Gallery of Art.
First image: George Cruikshank, 1820.
Very unpleasant weather, or the old saying verified “Raining cats, dogs, & pitchforks”!!!
Second image: Rembrandt van Rijn – The Mill, 1645/1648
Third image: Childe Hassam – Rainy Day, Boston, 1886
The world according to RedCat 
Send that rain our way! We have fired and smog. Our air quality is terrible