As Noah might have said as he looked out of the ark, “It looks like a cloud done come up.” Well, if Noah was Southern, he would have definitely stated it that way. We had been watching a gigantic weather system move our way all day this past Saturday. It finally arrived during the wee hours of the morning on Sunday morning. By the time Martha and I left for church, it had already rained three inches. I looked at my weather App before I went to bed Sunday night, and this slow moving system still stretched all the way back to Mississippi. I thought to myself that it would rain all day Monday, and probably would not be out of here before Tuesday, and we had a full house of hunters.

Well, I had to be in Albany for an appointment on Monday morning at 7:30 AM. According to my rain gauge, we had received 5.6 inches of rain in total before sun up on Monday morning. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked at my weather App on Monday morning at 5:00 AM, and saw that this entire system would be east of us by daylight, and it was. I don’t know whether the entire system sped up, or it just flat rained itself out, but I sure was happy for Cader IV, the staff, guides, and hunters as everyone was able to hunt all day on Monday. Even more amazing, we did not have the first jeep get stuck. I was also very grateful to God that our Flint River was at an all-time historical low level for this time of the year. I do believe that it’s safe to say that southwest Georgia will be removed from the severe drought category now.

Since I am “semi-retarded”, I don’t work full days down here anymore, but I knew what Cader and company would be facing on an all-day rain out with a full house because I lived through TOO many of those in my 45 years of running Riverview. There is an amazing progression in guest’s attitudes from morning until afternoon of a rainy day, which by the way, we have VERY few days that we are unable to hunt at least some of the day. The morning always begins with guests saying, “Don’t worry about it. You can’t control the weather. We are just fine with it.” Around noon, there is a perceptive slip in congeniality with such statements as, “Do you have any idea when this mess is going to get out of here.” By the middle of the afternoon after being cooped up in a cottage all day, I would hear those dreaded words, “When in the hell are YOU going to stop this rain?”

Now, I proudly admit to trying to live close to the Lord, but even His word says that it rains on the just as well as the unjust. Once the guests get surly, the final step is “if we ain’t hunting, we might as well start drankin’.” And, oh what fun that night at dinner is for the owner with a bullseye painted on his back! All of those problems that I had anticipated failed to materialize. And, we had a great day of hunting on Monday with no stuck jeeps and good hunting. I had already decided not to come back to Riverview after my doctor’s appointment, but with no rain, I showed up at lunch to take credit for praying the rain away. My second mother who helped raise me always called a move like I pulled as “stealing someone else’s thunder”, but agitating my son is one of my hobbies. I doubt that I will live long enough to even the score in that department after raising, educating, and training him, but I am very proud of the husband, father, and businessman he has turned out to be.

It comes as no surprise to me that his mother claims all of the credit for that since when they were young and good, they were “her” children. However, once they messed up, they suddenly became “my children”. Happy Valentine’s Day tomorrow, Martha. Any of you who have forgotten what tomorrow is still have today to get something and avoid the old dog house!