Spring is here, meaning it's time for the Byron Nelson, which means people standing under giant umbrellas with lots of TV cameras on them.

The Byron Nelson is a rain god. He visits North Texas every year at the same time to bring us precipitation. He also goes by the name Tornado, and we have Tornado watches, like when you put out cookies and milk for Santa. Those of us who aren't part of the actual Byron Nelson rituals scan the skies each day looking for his blessings.

His closest followers made a bronze statue of him out at Las Colinas (Spanish for "the cleansing"). When it gets wet, they get happy and applaud.

They gather each day to observe silence while special Byron Nelson priests swing silver wands at the sky. Then it rains, and they all go home. But they come back the next day. This goes on for two weeks.

By the end of this ritual, everyone's sunburnt and exhausted, but happy. They go to parties celebrating the Byron Nelson rains.

Me, I just like the water for my lawn. Guess I'm some sort of Philistine.

Posted by: Michael Rittenhouse at 05:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 192 words, total size 1 kb.