Arkansas Delta Rain

Photo by Geetanjal Khanna on Unsplash

As I am standing in front of the Togo store, I smell the scent of fresh rain approaching. The Arkansas Delta is fairly flat, with only a few tree lines, wooded areas and Crowley's Ridge breaking the view. Crowley's Ridge runs from southern Missouri thru eastern Arkansas to the Mississippi River. It is not a mountain range, but it can be seen for miles in either direction. From the Togo store I can see towards the west and the Ridge, even though it is about fifteen miles away. A summer storm is building up and Lex, my younger brother, and I had better head to the house before it gets here, or our mother will have a fit.

My Grandfather steps out on the porch of the store and looks at the clouds heading our way and says," Glenn go get your brother and head on home." Lex was at the back of the store playing with a new litter of kittens but had heard my grandfather and headed to the front of the store.

The Togo store and Togo cotton gin were next to each other and this time of the year there were people preparing the gin for the fall cotton crop. This was the early 1960's when people lived and worked on farms, not only in Arkansas, but all across the south. Small country stores, like my grandfathers, were scattered every mile or two all up and down paved and county roads. Most of the stores carried basic food staples along with some over the counter drug remedies. A few of the stores, like the Togo Store, carried a limited selection of clothes and shoes.

Lex and I told our grandfather we would see him later and headed to the house. We only lived about a quarter mile from the house, but we could see Crowley's Ridge disappear from the rain and with the wind picking up we barely made it to the house before the rain came down. We waited a few minutes in the carport to see if it was just going to rain or if lightning came with it. The summertime in the Arkansas Delta was always hot and humid but Lex and I enjoyed playing in the rain. We were "out of luck" today because we heard the thunder getting closer. Mom opened the door and told us to get inside "before we get struck by lightning".

We looked out in the fields and the tractors had already headed to the shop. We figured that dad might be paying everybody this evening since it appeared they would not be returning to the fields on Saturday. Farming in the south was primarily a six to seven day a week job, with the only break in schedule, an occasional rainstorm. With this being Friday we might have a chance to get into town on Saturday.