Before you can see a rainbow, a little rain must fall.
There has been a lot of rain this year where I live. That's a good thing. No, actually, a great thing. The entire state has been in a pretty severe and prolonged drought, so the rain is welcome. No one is really complaining. In fact it's actually been fun to experience Winter for a change. I haven't seen so many people donning down jackets in my neighborhood since I can't even remember when. This has been a Winter like I remember from when I was a kid.
The level of the water in the tidal basin has been up more than usual, the air feels so clean, the hills all around appear to be closer than usual; the sky looks so blue in between the storms. We get to hear thunder and see hail and even some snow! While we often see a dusting of the highest hilltops maybe once a year, this year we could see white hills on three sides of us. Most of the snow at the lower levels melted in a couple of days, but some on the higher peaks has been there for over a week. Now that is really rare!
Is there a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow?
Another sight we don't get to see a lot, due to the lack of rain, are rainbows. So it was quite a treat to see not one, but two recently. And there was even the hint of a third one. Now that's rare. I think most anywhere!
My husband and I were driving back towards home after running errands one day when we both saw the full range, beautiful, ROYGBIV colors of a rainbow in the sky. In between the white and light gray clouds and the occasional rain that day were patches of blue sky. Just enough of a clearing to let bright sunlight stream through and illuminate the rainbows. The colors seemed super-charged! Trying to be funny, I asked my husband if he thought there might be a pot of gold at the end of the biggest rainbow and where did he think it ended? He said probably over the water and with that, he turned away from our usual route home and headed out towards the Bay. After taking a left and then a right, we arrived at an overlook. I scrambled out of the car, quickly headed up the ramp and there I saw it.
The end of the rainbow!!
It seemed like a magical moment. It almost took my breath away. I was the only one up there and I wondered if this was a moment that I was experiencing all by myself. I know that there are many conditions that have to come into play for a rainbow to appear, so I knew that to only people in just the right place, looking in just the right direction and just for that exact moment in time while the rain was falling and the clouds were in just the right position in the sky, would this particular rainbow be visible. From my vantage point, not only did I see the end of the rainbow, I even was able to see that the image was extended beyond where I assumed it would end. I saw that the rainbow was actually being reflected in the Bay. It was like I was seeing an extended version! Like it was an add-on. A bonus view. It really did feel like a gift. I quickly snapped a picture. I turned to wave to my husband to come on up with me. I didn't get a response, so started to head back down to where he was waiting in the car. But first I turned and took another glance at the rainbow, just to be sure that I had actually seen what I thought I had seen. I looked back towards the water when I got to the car and saw that the rainbow was gone. Just that quickly, my magical moment had come to an end.
I got in the car and pulled out my camera to show my husband a picture of the rainbow. And there I saw it. Not only had I been able to capture the rainbow, but as I zoomed in, I could just barely make out the reflection of the rainbow in the water as well.
Cherish special moments.
As my husband drove us home, I sat with my eyes closed, taking in what I had seen. While the picture captured the actual image, what I had been feeling was not something that I could share. That was inside me, a special moment just for me. I'm sure I will never feel that moment as strongly again but looking at the picture helps to bring back a special memory.
It does serve as a reminder to me to be open to and aware of special moments that are all around me on a daily basis. My days may not always be full of rainbows, but I want to remember that even on days when rain falls, either actual or metaphorical, and it might feel a little gloomy and dark, that often a brightness will appear, full of color and light.
I need to have open eyes to take in and cherish those special moments.
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