The Rainbow

One of the best perks of living in this great state of California, is the fact that it almost never rains in the summer.  We go for weeks and months, day in and day out, with cloudless blue skies and beautiful sunny days.   But once in awhile, a glistening drop of precipitation is felt on one's forehead during the summer stretch, normally mistaken for a lawn sprinkler or some passing car's windshield fluid.  It's almost like we forget how rain feels, how it smells, or how it looks.  Our minds immediately searching for what artificial copycat could have possibly thrown its drizzle our way.  

Last Sunday was one of those days.  My husband had picked me up for our usual trip to Trader Joes.  But as I got into his car, he excitedly began to tell me how his windshield had been spotted with moisture while he'd been inside at work.   I of course, still in the trance of summer, didn't quite believe him until, I myself, looked up at the sky above, suddenly seeing a spectacular rainbow forming for all to see.

And of course I've seen rainbows before, everybody has right?  But I've never actually taken the time to selflessly tear myself away from its vivid glory.  To in turn, actually observe how its magnificence was affecting everybody else around me. So as we continued to drive down the street, I suddenly began noticing the spell this rainbow had seemed to cast upon the rest of the world.  One by one, I watched people of all ages, young and old, turn and look up into the sky.  Each one stopping their busy lives for just a second to look, adorning their faces with huge smiles and wide eyes.  I found it absolutely amazing how such a simple phenomenon, a phenomenon most people had seen dozens of times before, could bring even the most distant strangers together for these precious few moments in time.  It was one of the most special things I had ever witnessed in my entire life.

Later that night, in looking back at what the predicted forecast had been for the day, I soon realized that it was never supposed to rain at all; not one weatherperson in all the land had foreseen anything less than perfect weather.  Personally though, I think rain had been in the plan all along.  And no matter what you believe in, in this life or the next, I know that somebody up there had been watching, knowing that the world, if for only a few priceless moments, was in desperate need of a sincere moment of happiness.