During a recent rainstorm that included a spectacular lighting show both south and north of us (somewhat rare) I had a niggling thought. Had I read something as a kid about it raining for centuries during early Earth? Or could it have even been longer? The next day I looked through my home library and found a book titled “Rocks All Around Us.” It had a copyright of 1959 and was obviously written for young people. It reads:

“Long ago the ball of rock on which we live was very hot. It was so hot that all the rock was melted. And for millions of years it stayed that way.

Then, little by little, the outside of the ball cooled off. A thin crust formed. It was stiff and solid. In some places it was wrinkled. Those wrinkles were the first mountains.

There were cracks in the crust. Steam and air shot out of the cracks. The steam made thick clouds that hung all around the earth. The clouds wouldn’t let the sun through even for a minute.

Then it began to rain. Never has there been such a rainstorm since. It rained and it rained, day and night, without letup. It rained for years. It rained for centuries. For the earth was still sizzling hot. As soon as the rain touched the earth, the water turned to steam. The steam would go up in clouds and come right down again as rain.

By and by the outside of our rock ball really cooled off. It got so cool that the rain stopped turning into steam. Between rains the sun came out. The rain water ran off the rocks. It flowed into the low places of the earth’s rock crust. Those low places became seas and lakes.

The lowest place of all was what we now call the Pacific Ocean. For there was an old, very deep scar here. It had formed before the rock crust had got quite stiff. A great mass of soft rock had flown off from this spot and shot up into space. It had become the moon.”

Much writing for young people has been enchanting to me through the years and I love how the very simple wording of the passage above flows so simply and beautifully.

As for the possible facts (also known as theories), several of my internet searches have brought up a handful of these rainy epochs during earth’s history. And there are several CGI videos online showing the earth being smashed into and peeling off the debris that would become the moon. Did the earth shed what would become our moon, and did it rain for possibly millions of years? Good things to ponder while enjoying a flashing thunderstorm or a glowing full moon.

Sometimes, during a winter night, I will step out on the back porch and look around. I can see Highway 20 to the northeast. A low spot in the landscape allows me to observe vehicles traveling east and west for about 10 seconds before they are hidden by a rise on either side. The ones going west are only two bright headlights, like yellow saucers, while the eastbound show a long beam of white light stretching ahead of them into the darkness. I don’t walk out to the porch and watch the highway traffic a mile away because I am sad or happy. I do it just to observe. Watching motion in this world has always fascinated me. Waves rolling in and out, little birds flitting from tree to tree. Shadows starting long, getting short, then long again in the other direction during the course of a day. A steady summer rain splashing on a slow flowing river, geese flying right over your head while migrating, dogs playing with each other, a campfire burning nicely in front of you surrounded by friends. Back to the highway. There are some semitrailers outfitted with exterior lights that outline the whole truck, dozens of bright lights, making them look like they are ready for some mission in a superhero movie. I asked my son-in-law what was up with all the semi lights and he said none of them are required or necessary. They do it just to stand out in the night, to show off. But once you decorate your truck with them you better keep them all lit, because if any go out and you are caught by the state, you will be fined for faulty lights. Back to the porch. There go a couple more brightly lit semis, through my little viewpoint, off to the east and west. The wind is kicking up from the south, so I stand back against the house, looking again to the northeast and the highway. I feel the temperature dropping and turn to go inside. It is warm in there. Outside the wind blows and trucks keep passing by.