Looking for Rainbows

Rainbows are a magical part of childhood, as many people know already. I've known many children through the years to find great joy in looking for rainbows - not just in the sky, but on the ground or in the house too. I know a number of windows that, when the sun is in just the right spot, will cast a rainbow against the wall, shelf, cupboard, or bookcase behind them. All through the day, children will look: "Is it time for the rainbow yet?" And at just the right moment, there it is, bright and colorful where just moments ago there was shadow. If we hadn't been watching for it, we likely would have missed it.

A couple weeks ago, it was a drizzly gray day, the kind best spent inside wrapped in fuzzy blankets. As I was getting ready to drive home from work, I noticed the sun finally shining in a patch of bright blue sky... A patch of blue sky surrounded by clouds that were still pouring down rain. "There must be a rainbow somewhere, right?" I looked all around, but couldn't see one. Into my car, off towards home, still looking. But still, I saw nothing. Finally, as I was driving through the foothills, over to my left I saw it - a faint splash of color across the sky, barely visible, but there just the same. And I realized again that if I hadn't been looking for it, I might never have seen it.

I shudder to think of how many rainbows - both real and metaphorical - I've missed through the years. Maybe sometimes I was too busy to make time for it. Maybe sometimes I was too focused on the clouds to look behind them. Maybe sometimes I was hiding in bed. But I try to look more now.

My good friend Sandra has been getting a lot of bad news lately, from many of her own good friends. She is looking for rainbows of her own these days, and I'm more than willing to share with her.


What rainbows have you noticed lately?