Experience the soothing sounds of a steady midwestern rain shower as it falls on a bed of coneflowers and sunflowers.

Recorded on the afternoon of September 11, 2022, in northern Illinois. Elevation 755 feet.

LAKE COUNTY, ILLINOIS — A couple of weeks ago, I drove across the Great Plains from northern Colorado to northern Illinois (with an overnight stop in Nebraska) to visit family and friends. It was my first trip back to the midwest in a while, and I enjoyed making the journey by car instead of by plane so that I could take in the vast open spaces along the way. It’s a long drive though, and I was exhausted when I arrived. I needed a day or two to recover.

Not long after I unpacked the car and settled into the spare bedroom at my Mom’s house, a low-pressure system slumped into the Great Lakes region and stalled out. It rained non-stop for the next thirty-six hours straight. What a delight!

Having lived in Colorado for nearly ten years, this type of rain—steady, sheeting rain—is a rare treat for me. It gave me the perfect excuse to lounge around for hours on end, reading and listening to the patter of raindrops on the window sill. The showers also gave me the opportunity to record ten-plus minutes of raindrops falling on the coneflowers and sunflowers growing along my Mom’s front porch.

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