Ch.171 A Rainbow Appears Just When I Need It
Oct. 2022
If nights are the loneliest times for a widower, then weekends come in a close second. Today, a Sunday, home alone, I was feeling blue. I had watched enough sports already this weekend to last a lifetime – baseball, football, more baseball… I was bored, and boredom makes me anxious. The weather was gloomy. A brief rain had just concluded but the temperature was heading toward freezing and a strong wind was blowing.
That’s when my collie Levi showed up; he was also wanting to do something. For Levi, doing something these days means doing something with me, his only remaining human. I figured a brief walk outside couldn’t do me much harm so off we went, Levi galloping tail up into the wind while I bent over and slouched ahead. Physically I felt heavy, my feet hurt (I have plantar fasciitis), and I was ready to cry.
That’s when I looked up and saw the rainbow. The sun was shining through the leftover droplets from the recent rain, scattering light into its component colors. There they were in their required order: violet – blue — green — yellow — orange — red. Vivid. A complete rainbow in that I could see both ends where it appeared to touch the ground. I began crying; Partly I was sad, remembering the many times I called: “Pat, come see the rainbow.” Pat would emerge from the house, and we would hold each other, silently watching. Partly I was crying with rapture; nature in all its greatness had gifted me.
And then it was gone. I looked down and back up, but it had disappeared. I don’t think that rainbow lasted more than a few minutes since the rain that birthed it had ceased just before Levi and I left home. I needed that rainbow. It gave me a minute of joy, enough to hold back my sadness. So, I started home, there to be summoned by Lakota, my Quarter Horse, hoping for a treat. Dog, horse, cat (sleeping on a nearby chair as I write), rainbow. My life now feels more full than it did an hour ago.