July 06th, 2022

 I mentioned seeing (and photographing) a spectacular rainbow in yesterday's post and promised to write more on the topic of rainbows today.  So here we go.

First of all, I do love a rainbow. Always have.  So there is something else new that you didn't know about me.  I am a big fan.  Not to the point of having rainbow patterns depicted on my window treatments or bed linens, but just a general feeling of rainbow connectivity, y'know? Some people gravitate toward images of the sun, the moon or the stars. I like those things but it's rainbows that have always been extra special to me.

And yes, I am well aware that suns, moons and stars are more in the celestial category and rainbows more meteorological.   Still, they are all things that I look skyward to see and therefore, for today's purposes,  they are in the same group.      And also, before you say it, yes I know that rainbows are equated with the admiration of adorable little pre-teen girls not grown arsed adult women. Don't care.  For me Rainbows are, and always will be, kind of magical.

Yes yes yes, light refraction yadayada,  I know!  I aced the vast majority of my science classes in school all the way through college.  (All but that one oceanography class that we will never speak of again)  Don't care one single bit. My opinion remains steadfast:  Rainbows are magical.  

 Nowadays rainbows are also the chosen representative symbol of LGBTQ+ associated folks and good on them.   I get it and I'm absolutely fine with it.  But the casual passer by is often confused by the "Statement" I am making  if I talk about or display a rainbow mostly because of this newest meaning.  Trust me, the only statement I am making when I say "I like rainbows" is that I like rainbows. That's it.  Nothing deeper. 

I have no problem sharing the rainbow concept. None at all.  But I do not want to misrepresent myself.   This is the thing that folks need to keep in mind.   Rainbows can be an innocent magical bit of atmospheric sleight of hand AND also represent a culture.   Rainbows can legitimately mean more than one thing.   Lots of things have more than one meaning.   But it can get confusing.

The word, "cool" for example.  Cool of course refers to lower temperatures.  "After the sun went down, the air felt a little cool."  But it can also refer to an unfriendly attitude, " His reception to me was cool."  Coolness is also related to demeanor.  "In all the craziness, he remained cool and calm".   And, finally, cool can also refer to a positive judgement, "What a cool car!" 

So there you go, one word, four different interpretations.  Just something to think about if you spy a rainbow of colours displayed.  As it turns out, the word Rainbow comes up a lot more than you might expect and in a lot of different ways!

In 1984 there was a cartoon called Rainbow Brite.  It was also a doll, I think.  Rainbow Brite was the protector of Colours!  Oooooo.  Awesome job!   Then too there is the rainbow on the box of Lucky Charms Cereal!  That's been around since 1964.   Judy Garland sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" way way back in 1939 in the movie," The Wizard of Oz".   The song, "Rainbow Connection" sung by Kermit The Frog in the Muppet Movie in 1979 was an instant hit. 

The first literary mention of a rainbow that I recall is from the bible. It was after Noah's Flood.  And it was a promise from God that he would never again flood the earth.  I'm not a biblical scholar but I know it's somewhere in Genesis:

           "I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me             and the earth. I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures              of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life."

There you go, the Rainbows even exist in  Literature.  They are freakin' everywhere.  Open a new box of crayons, go ahead, I'll wait.  What does it look like?  A Rainbow, you betcha.  The produce section of any grocery store.  Colours for days  Almost any clothing store has racks and racks of the exact same shirt/pants/skirt/etc in a variety of different colours and this looks like.....what class?  Rainbows!  Yes!

Once upon a time, a very long time ago when my boys were very young, we had a cat the kids named Rainbow.  She had stripes and was many colours, hence the name.    There is an author whose name is Rainbow Rowell.   Currently some 3,056 people have  the name Rainbow. Some of them are first names, some last. I do not know what the percentage is of either. 

There is that famous poem about pets crossing the rainbow bridge. It's tells the story of a journey after death that is both very sweet and very sad.  And then there is the lore which tells us that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow if you can just find it.  Turns out that is blatantly untrue.  I once saw exactly where a rainbow ended and ran through the rain to stand in it.  I was told that I appeared to be rainbow coloured while I stood there, but once I was inside of it, I could no longer see the colours. Interesting.  Also, no pot of gold.  I was gypped. 

Did you know that there are white rainbows?  Yuppers.  It's not super common but they do exist.  They look exactly like regular rainbows, the giant arch in the sky, only it's all white.  They are also called Fogbows.   Fogbows are much the same as rainbows,  always opposite the sun, but fogbows are caused by the small droplets inside a fog or cloud rather than larger raindrops.  Very Cool, but not a  regular rainbow. Just a little side note.

Anyway, I don't think there was really a point to this post. Just idle rainbow ramblings.    If there is any sort of purpose to this at all it's a reminder that there are a lot of rainbows of one sort of another around.  Also, I just happen to like rainbows :)