There are so many songs I love that mention rain: Bob Dylan's Rainy Day Lady, Peter Gabriel's Red Rain, Phil Collins' I wish It Would Rain Down, and so many more. There's something soulful and sincere about those songs and they move me with their imagery and the memories they hold for me. I recall the myriad of rainy days In New York and in Israel, in my early years: The sounds of children playing all around me, the feeling of holding on tight to umbrellas that threatened to blow away with a gust of soaking wind, and the voices of my mother and father at home while the rain came pouring down outside. Inside we were warm and safe, and that's all that mattered.

In general, though, I enjoy songs about rain much more than I enjoy the rain itself, which is one of the reasons I've settled in Southern California where it barely ever rains. But today the rain returned after several months of conspicuous absence. It was a welcome and somewhat reassuring rain and, as it turns out, I was home from work all day, so I could enjoy it.

Unfortunately, I wasn't home on vacation, but on husband/father duty, as my wife and children were not feeling well. At school, more than two-thirds of my son's classmates were out sick with what appears to be swine flu, so we'll keep the kids at home until next week. For me, it's highly unusual to work from home for an entire week. But it's something I might be able to get used to. Just not with preparing breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily for the whole family, as I'm doing this week.

All around us, we hear stories of local schools which were hard hit by the flu, and I can't help but think of a disturbing thought. The ease and speed at which the flu virus has travelled is astounding, and it's a really good thing that the flu is not more lethal. I'm not sure how our world would look, if G-d forbid the swine flu claimed more victims like the Plague of centuries past.

On a more positive note, I guess that we won't be needing the flu vaccine...