Stop I told myself, stop and just look. The rainbow appeared over the hill in front of me, over the neighbors house, over the road with the cars going by, over the electrical lines.
I could take a picture I thought, but I had just taken a picture of a rainbow a few days before. This was unusual because it was a morning rainbow. But I chose to just watch it instead.
As I did another rainbow began to appear. It seemed undecided, not a full double rainbow, just a small section of the first. It only lasted moments, if I hadn’t been watching…
Rainbow don’t last long I told myself as I thought of the chores that needed to be done. But because I was dedicated to watching it, it lasted longer than any other I’ve ever seen.
Not as dramatic as the full double rainbow I saw driving over a bride somewhere in Florida so many years ago I’ve forgotten exactly when it was.
And not touching down in a field like the one Jon and saw driving to Bennington last week.
This rainbow wavered in the sky half of an arch, its colors soft as if trying not to draw too much attention to itself.
Then a cloud passed toward the top of the arch and that part of the rainbow faded then disappeared. Soon what remained flickered like a dying lightbulb. It wove itself in and out of the pale blue-gray sky until I could no longer tell if it was still there or if it was an after image on my eye.
Finally it was completely gone. How long did I stand there watching the rainbow? Maybe five minutes, maybe ten.
But when I think back on it, I don’t think in terms of time.
I can still see the rainbow in all its stages. I can see the cloud that cut it in two, and the faint image of colors, low down, just above the hill.
I never really thought about watching a rainbow before. I’ve thought about seeing them, but now experiencing the life of one. Even if only for five or ten minutes they last too long in my hurried world. I’ve always liked them best that their magical “Ah” moment, when they are spectacular.
But this gentle rainbow showed me its lifetime. Made me stop and leave my own life for a few minutes and witness something I hadn’t before. And it made me feel that this unassuming rainbow was speaking to me.
Maria, Jon is right. You are a spirit creature. What I’d give to spend an hour or two in your presence. Seeing the nature I love through your eyes!
We would be able to see it though each others eyes that way Barbara. 🙂
Even though I wasn’t there to see this rainbow, the way you wrote about it I felt as if I were there.
Oh Wonderful Barb! I’m so glad I could share it this way.
I took a botanical art course years ago in a lovely old studio at a nature preserve. As the evening came on and the sky turned its kaleidoscope of colors the instructor would stop us and say “it’s time for a color break” and we would all go outside and spend some time watching color. It was a valuable life lesson for me to always leave time for a “color break” as you did with watching rainbows.
Lois, I love that idea, a “color break”, It happens enough here and thinking of it that way give the event a name.
This looks like an Old Masters painting. Very renaissance. Thank you. It’s beautiful.
Thank you Laurie.