Wise men say there are two things in life that are certain—death and taxes.

We usually can’t do anything to avoid impending death, but today is the day to take care of taxes. Have you filed all the required forms? If you haven’t, don’t fret. It could be worse. It could be raining.

When it comes to the month of April, you can add rain to the first paragraph.

ain is a necessary evil in life just like taxes. We need it so plants can grow and keep the biological food chain going. We need it so we can add fluoride to it and then filter out everything that was added. For sports’ sake, we need it to replenish our bodies which are 90-and-some-odd percent water.

But we don’t need it when outdoor sporting events are scheduled, such as baseball and softball games or the Indianapolis 500.

The NIU softball team was supposed to play its home opener yesterday, but the skies opened and dumped megagallons of water on the DeKalb area. OK, so I lie. The NIU Weather Service said .8 inches of rain fell yesterday, which—as we all know—equals 2.4 inches of snow. Or is it one inch of rain equals 10 inches of snow?

Anyway, the .8 inches was not only enough to cancel both games of the doubleheader, but caused sports editors everywhere to scramble to find material to fill their pages.

owever, despite the not-so-sublime conditions, the NIU football team continued spring workouts. Those gladiators of the gridiron can take anything. Not a thought is given to canceling a football game or practice during a rain storm. Just hope they don’t catch their death of cold.

But watching football players slip and slide on the green AstroTurf like kids on those silly blue mats makes me remember when playing in the rain was condemned by parents.

Some childhood (and beyond) memories of the rain:

acing popsicle sticks in the little stream down the curb on my street.

iding my bike through the rain and wiping out, scraping my knees and elbows in the process because I would wear only shorts and a T-shirt.

During rain delays of Cub games, watching the World Series between the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox about 1,975 times.

Walking down my street nearly every Halloween with my raincoat over my Underdog (or some other superhero) costume. Has there even been an Oct. 31 without rain?

Wallowing in the mud like a pig while playing a combination game of football/rugby/wrestling with my friends.

All I can say is, with this recent rainy weather we’ve been having, there had better be some blooming flowers come May.