"Oh my!" came Susan's cry from the front room. I could tell from her tone it was something wonderful. It was 7:00 on Saturday morning and one of the first full weekend's lay out in front of us. I was intending to sleep in. But her call pulled me to the living room on the west end of our flat, and there, stretched over the entire sky was a full rainbow. The sun was just rising, and cutting under the clouds, turned millions of droplets into prisms of light. My heart soared.
I'm not sure why my body responds this way to beauty. Perhaps my eyes trigger endorphins? Or could it be the cascade of associations with rainbows, or the story of God's covenant of hope after the flood. I ran for my camera, knowing this bow was ephemeral. And of course my "camera mind" was now looking at the all the wires! What a metaphor for our lives now, I thought. Wired we are, and looking through all this maze for rainbows.
"I wonder if we could see it from the garden?" Susan said. I ran to put on clothes to see. We live next to the Argonne Community Garden, and our peekaboo view of the bay turns into a panorama in the upper garden, which is elevated and open. The light rain coated my polypro pullover. I protected my camera. The rainbow was still there in the upper garden. I took more pictures, until the bow began to fade. I walked back, my spirit full of thanks for living in such a place. The garden felt rich and healthy, its 70 plots wrapping around the Argonne Child Development Center.
Back at our flats I shook off the rain. "It's still going, stronger than ever," Susan said. Sure enough. Okay. Time to go on the roof! I popped on my raincoat and spiraled up the back stairs and up the ladder to our roof. From there the city spread out in the morning sun, still streaming under the clouds. I could see the golden turrets of the Russian orthodox church way out Geary to the West. The green hills of the Marin Headlands peeked up North. To the East the spiries of Saint Ignatius topped the high ridge that separates the Richmond district from the East part of the city. The Outer Richmond sat brilliant in the direct sun under the clouds. My memory was flooded with the many times that I have risen in the morning to meditate up here in the dawn.
The rainbow persisted for a long time, arcing over our home, garden, city and sea in a quiet testimony to the radiance of light. "Spirit as light is the essence of life force," I thought. It's one of the principles of peace from Rainbow Hawk and WindEagle.
As I write this now sitting back in my front room, the windows now bright with morning, the rainbow gone, I'm filled with gratitude. Now, here, this morning, my heart leaps in joy! I can still see the gulls playing in the dawn— sun--blazing white against the gray, wrapped in light.
Moe evidence that life is good! Thanks what I need at 4 AM n the dark morning of Baltimore with too much on my mind. Love -- Jan
Posted by: Jan Houbolt | November 21, 2010 at 01:15 AM