It has long been said that history has a way of repeating itself. Perhaps, we should put that hypothesis to good use.
I’m thinking of the fires out west.
On this date, in the year 971, the English Saint Swithun was reburied inside Winchester Cathedral. This was against his wishes, which I am presuming he made perfectly clear before he died. Regardless, he was buried there in Winchester. And then, a terrible storm proceeded to rain down upon all of them for 40 days and nights.
I’m wondering if we can call England and ask to borrow Saint Swithun, fly him over here, which I’m sure would also be against his wishes, and bury him somewhere out west. Perhaps we could even move him around. The rains would come, you see, and the crisis would be over.
Maybe history repeating itself doesn’t quite work that way.
Maybe it wasn’t Saint Swithun. Perhaps it was the date, July 15. Lots of rain fell on separate years in two different locations.
In 1911, 46″ of rain fell in Baguio, Philippines.
In 1916 22.22″ of rain fell in Altapass, North Carolina.
At this point, we should be willing to try anything. Maybe we could propose a set time, where everyone in the nation would play a rain song for the people who need it.
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Purple Rain by Prince.
Here Comes the Rain Again by the Eurythmics.
Fool in the Rain by Led Zeppelin.
Any song will do, rain-wise.
A rain song and a rain dance, perhaps.
Hell, let’s invoke the Itsy Bitsy Spider.
Okay, enough about the need for rain. I think we all are well aware of this without me going on any longer.
I’ll move on to another important historical event, loosely related to the rain. We know ducks like the rain and wet weather, but what about the duck-billed platypus?
It was on this date in 1922 that the first duck-billed platypus was publicly exhibited in the United States, this occurring at the Bronx Zoological Park, in New York City.
It was just a warm-up. In fact, that was the last platypus to be seen in the United States for 25 years, until the Bronx Zoo again exhibited platypuses in April 1947.
The New York Zoological Society had begun working with the famed Australian naturalist David Fleay to acquire platypuses in the winter of 1945-1946. They faced a lot of challenges which led the Society to call off the whole big platypus party until the following year. It is quite a thing to bring them all the way from Australia and to make them think they are at home here.
Anyway, it happened. On April 25, 1947, the platypuses — named Betty Hutton, Penelope, and Cecil — made their debut to much ado. It was actually very big news, as the “platypusary,” — “a special enclosure designed to mimic conditions in the platypuses’ native riverbed habitat” — had been designed by Fleay himself. It was built to his strict specifications so that the platypuses would have minimal disturbances that might be imposed by the zookeepers and the public.
They are highly sensitive animals.
The platypusary was an incredible success during its twelve-year run. All of this, even though the exhibit only showed one platypus at a time and was only open for one hour per day. Build it, and they will come. The average daily attendance in 1947 was 1,222. The platypuses were so popular that for the 1948 season, a five-cent fee was imposed in hopes of controlling the crowds.
The Society hoped they would mate, but sadly, Betty Hutton died during a heatwave in 1948. Cecil and Penelope fooled around a lot but never got lucky with a kid. Then, in July of 1957, Penelope went missing. They searched the Bronx Zoo like crazy, for a long time. Penelope was never found, and two months later, Cecil passed away.
You won’t see one now unless you are in Australia or San Diego. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is currently the only zoo outside Australia to house platypuses.
And, for the record. They live near the water. They like the rain.
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“I always like walking in the rain, so no one can see me crying.”
― Charlie Chaplin
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“The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat
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“Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.”
― Roger Miller
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Raindrops keep falling on my duck bill.
