Double Rainbow

Tuesday, July 7....

Just when it seemed my week would be a big yawn; the daily rainstorms, heavy clouds, thunder and lightning that plagued us in the Bay area for the month of June had ceased during the 4th of July weekend. But starting on the 6th, when the workaday world butted in again, the rains resumed.

On the way west towards the bay, on the Courtney Campbell Causeway, around 7:20, my daughter broke the monotony of the radio morning show with a "look, Mom...a rainbow". And, she was right. Seeing the full arc of the rainbow woke me up to what the differences have been since I've been in Florida. It seems, at least in my part of the state, that a full arc rainbow is a rarity..potentially I hadn't seen even one since I arrived in 1995. For some strange reason, we seem to get only the rising part of the arc....or only the descending part. A partial rainbow, at best.

But this one was a vision, and a full arc, with both bases appearing to end in the water. And as we drove west, the colors blazed from pastel to nearly primary. It was then that Andrea craned her neck to look through the uppermost part of the windshield... and spotted the full, pastel second arc, above the first. We drove in awe. Inspired, the beauty of it all carried me through the rest of the week, storms and all. And while we were unable to get a picture with our silly little cellphone cameras, I hope that this photo, from Ken Rockwell , which almost exactly duplicates the phenomenon we saw, will inspire you all, as well.

quid