Though the sun was shining brightly on this April day when I began this post, I'd just looked at my weather app and we're due rain in the next couple of days. Immediately I began to hear the song "April Showers" in my head.
When I was growing up, Granny gifted me a Reader's Digest songbook to use when playing the piano. It had many of the older songs, including "April Showers". I was romanticist enough in my teens to love this song. The tune was a happy one and so were the lyrics:
Life is not a highway strewn with flowers
Still it holds a goodly share of bliss
When the sun gives way to April showers
Here is the point you should never miss
Though April showers may come your way
They bring the flowers that bloom in May
So if it's raining, have no regrets
Because it isn't raining rain, you know, (It's raining violets,)
And where you see clouds upon the hills
You soon will see crowds of daffodils
So keep on looking for a blue bird, And list'ning for his song
Whenever April showers come along
And where you see clouds upon the hills
You soon will see crowds of daffodils
So keep on looking for a blue bird, And list'ning for his song
Whenever April showers come along
This song offered me such happy images of violets and daffodils and bluebirds that I could never fail to be cheered by it.
"April Showers" was written for the Broadway musical "Bombo" in 1921. The song was sung by Al Jolson who starred in the play and became one of his iconic standards. He recorded it in October of 1921. The music for the song was written by Louis Silvers and the lyrics written by B. G. DeSylva.
I like Jolson's peppy rendition which I feel sure was the way it was written. You can listen to it here.
Though it was original to "Bombo" the song was featured in various movies through the next 35 years including a movie by the same title that was produced in 1948.
The song was popular with singers all through the years and was recorded by many artists. Judy Garland performed it in a 1956 season finale for the GE Theatre. The arrangement she used is a little slower, a little more poignant. I'm a Judy Garland fan and I confess I like her rendition very well.
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The subject of April Showers led me to ask a search engine online if the adage "April showers bring May flowers" was true? While the moisture doesn't hurt, flowers growth is more related to temperature than to April.
It is true though that rainwater contains nutrients needed by growing plants and washes away leaves and contaminants like chlorine and naturally occurring mineral salts that might inhibit growth.
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No one really knows how April came to have it's name but we do know that the Romans called it "Aprillus". The origin of the word was "Aperire" which means 'to open' which is believed to be because of the opening of buds on leaves and flowers. The Romans' associated the month with the goddess Venus and the Greeks with their goddess Aphrodite.
The month is associated with a return to life. It is believed that hibernating animals will come out of their burrows on April 1. Most birds begin to migrate in the month of April, as well.
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April is a month well known for meteor showers, as well. Both the Lyrids (April 16-26) and the Eta Aquariids (April 21- end of the month) showers occur in April. You don't need any special equipment but you do need clear skies and patience to catch views of these showers.
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I've heard for years of women washing their hair or fine linens in rainwater but with running water in the house, I've never done so. I got curious about why rain water was saved for washing hair and what I found surprised me.
For washing hair, it's a good choice because the water is naturally soft. I think that is why it might have been used in many places for washing fine linens, too. Minerals in hard water can discolor linens.
But did you know that there are health benefits to drinking rain water? Rain water has the same ph as distilled water. It is naturally alkaline and detoxifies and promotes healthy digestion. It can inhibit the rapid growth of cancer cells.
Keep in mind that it's not good to exclusively drink rainwater because it lacks necessary sodium and minerals that well water often has, which is necessary to complete body health but a little rainwater won't hurt you and will likely be beneficial.
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4 comments:
As a kid, my hair was ALWAYS washed in rainwater in summer and melted snow water in Winter.. my hair had a beautiful shine to it and was sooooooo soft..
You should give it a try.
I never owned a copy of the Reader's Digest songbook but I used to check it out of the library. I am more of the mind that winter showers bring April flowers. We have had so much rain over the winter that the ground has been mud but oh wow, the azaleas are more glorious than I remember them for years.
I preach keeping the body pH neutral all the time! It will possibly save your life! Cancer and many other infections in the body cannot grow when the pH is neutral or better yet alkaline. You can buy pH test strips to check with your saliva. The other great thing about getting the pH under control is that sugar cravings go way down.
Louise we actually catch a bit of rainwater for the dogs to drink water. We've been talking of getting a rainwater tank set up as well. But I will share that our well water here tests as very soft water. It's not hard water at all.
Lana, I did know you could buy alkaline water to drink and that it was good for you but not that one might test for it in the body.
Terri, There is a lot of information on the web about diet to achieve and maintain a neutral/alkaline pH. When we started with our alternative practitioner years ago it was the first thing we did. It took a good bit of work to get our diet straightened out and be able to maintain it but it is second nature to us now.
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