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Th e Value of a Raindrop
By Tim Schneider
How many times have children been disappointed by the rain? How
oft en through the generations that man has been on the earth, have we
been upset about the weather because it ruined our plans? How rarely have
we stopped to consider the miracle that nature gives us every day? If we
stop to think about what it takes to create and sustain life on our little blue
planet, we would understand better the value of even a single drop of rain.
Born in clouds from water vapour, our droplet of rain falls from
the sky, landing with a splat that releases oxygen into the air; oxygen
that humans and almost all animals need to survive. Also, it provides
clean drinking water for plants and animals that cannot live without it.
We can see how important rain is when we look at the beautiful
green of plants aft er a rainfall or the beautiful colors of fl owers aft er a
good spring rain. Healthy plants feed the animals that we use for meat.
Humans also eat these plants as fruits, vegetables and cereal grains.
Clean, fresh water fi lls our rivers, lakes and ponds where thousands
of species of fi sh live, breed and, in turn, feed thousands of species of
waterfowl and mammals. Consider salmon who return from the sea
each year to fi ght their way up a river to lay eggs. Th ey become food
for bears, eagles, wolves, otters, and many other animals.
So, how valuable is a drop of rain? Th at depends on how valuable
food, fresh water and oxygen are to you. Without the rain, we wouldn’t
have the wealth that nature provides for us every day. So, next time you
want to say, “Rain, rain go away...,” think about another famous children’s
rhyme: “April showers bring May fl owers.”