I was just doing what I do every morning. I was washing out the cat dishes. A little later than normal, admittedly, but I decided to do an early clean-up after daisy had finished her breakfast and gone off for a stroll somewhere.
I was using a garden hose to spray out her dish and I noticed that with the low angle of the sun coming through the trees, I suddenly found myself in the position of rainbow maker.
So, I grabbed my camera (now that’s a first) and got this shot as the spray from the hose reflected off the dish and landed on a nearby shrub.
In an ideal world, I would have captured this rainbow much differently; the state of the yard isn’t very flattering and that isn’t a shrub I would have selected to have the rainbow’s end on. But the light was cutting a narrow angle across the yard and who was I to argue with the early morning sun.
But that’s the thing about rainbows … sometimes you just have to take them where you find them.
So, here is the shot and yes, I know it won’t win me any awards … but it did allow my brain to kick into gear with a general wonderment on rainbows and how we connect to them.
Jim Henson’t Rainbow Connection is one of my very favorite songs. It holds such significance for an outlook on life that is closely shared with Victoria and Morgan.
His opening line of “why are there so many songs about rainbows” sets the stage for their significance. While their science is pretty simple to understand their connection to us humans is rather complex.
You have the end-of-the-rainbow brigade who muse about leprechauns keeping their pot of gold at the end of one and they assign an almost magical connotation to them that keeps them chasing.
And by the way, if there are such people reading this and they want to dig at the end of this one, help yourselves. This is actually an ugly old tree stump that I have been eager to get rid of for years. In fact, I can point out all the other places that I have spotted rainbow ends all over my yard – bring a digger!
Anyway, I digress.
The greater significance I believe with respect to rainbows is what I was taught as a child in Ireland. They signify the end of rain and the arrival of sunshine. Which given the frequency of rain in Ireland, was a genuine cause for celebration.
While physically, I see nothing wrong with rain, metaphorically when our lives experience a sustained period of rain, we ache for the respite of some sunshine.
Some very dear friends have been getting pummeled by rain these past weeks and between Covid, financial pressures, and job losses, I think that story is being repeated all across the world.
So, the significance of a rainbow becomes greater in such instances and the act of finding one heralds in a change of tide.
Rainbows become a physical representation of a change of circumstance and so our hearts respond in excitement when we come across one.
When it comes to change of circumstance, there are those who wait patiently for a rainbow and there are others (like me and my hose) that actively seek to make one.
Now don’t get me wrong … I know there are many kind of rain that we can have no effect on. But I am also convinced that there are many that we can.
Do what you can do and don’t worry about the things you can’t … this is very much my credo in heavy rains.
Yes, grab an umbrella for the latter, but firstly look for the things that you can address. Chances are that that you can find a hose somewhere to wash away some of the bad stuff too!
None of us are truly helpless in our lives, even though oftentimes we may feel that way. Finding things that you can affect change with is the mark of those who refuse to get washed away in the rain. These are life’s Rainbow Makers.
Have a wonderful week and may the rains soon be behind you!
