You are thanking me for the rain, aren't you?

Prior to leaving for Colorado a week and a half ago, we gave the lawn and flowers a good watering, in hopes they would survive.

Sure enough, they were in good shape when we returned, thanks to the the rain McCook received while we were in Colorado, not to mention my wife's sister-in-law's green thumb and careful attention.

We didn't want to take rain for granted, however, so we were at it again Monday night, giving the lawn and flowers another good soaking.

Sure enough, the storm rolled in before midnight, dropping up to another inch in the area.

Watering, washing the car -- we don't have a clothesline but I'd even put one up if it would keep the rain coming.

Heck, I'd even leave town again, it that's what it takes.

You're welcome.

In an earlier column, we discussed the old coal gas plant that used to pipe carbon monoxide around town for heating and light before the advent of natural gas. Details were kind of sketchy, but Bus Bahl, long-time Gazette production manager, filled in a lot of the blanks.

About 1919 or 1920, he said, when he was 9 or 10, Bus helped his father, Adam Bahl, and brothers Ed and Bill unload coke -- a processed form of coal -- which was then burned to form the fuel gas. The plant was at the bottom of West Fourth, near the railroad tracks.

As Bus recalls, Pat Walsh, founder of McCook National Bank, was the backer of the plant, and Ed Brady, husband of Walsh's niece, Mary Brady, was manager.

Thanks to associate editor Dawn Cribbs and the rest of the crew for giving me a much-appreciated break. It was one of the most relaxing trips we've had in a long time, and I even landed a rainbow trout on a flyrod.

Never mind that he was probably a farm fish recently stocked for a contest in Lake Estes, or that it was in a catch-and-release area. Fly-fishing is a whole 'nother kind of fishing.

One of the traditions that goes with our family vacations is getting away from electronic communications, although our son did throw a laptop computer in his backpack along with his CDs and Gameboy.

Television is strictly banned, but by the third day, the radio is usually turned on and tuned into Public Radio.

That's where we turned after noticing the headlines about Ronald Reagan's passing, as well as the bulldozer rampage in Granby, Colo., just across the mountains from Estes Park.

I'd like to listen to public radio more, but the reception in McCook requires more effort than most people are willing to make.

What would it take to put a translator on the Keystone Hotel or one of the city water towers? It would be nice to be able to listen to Cartalk or Garrison Keillor on a clock radio.