Don’t get me totally wrong, I am a capitalist at heart. But when you draw open the curtains in your hotel room early one morning in Cebu, stare out at a passing rainstorm, and suddenly, a stunning, nearly solid and very vivid rainbow appears, you inevitably smile, and suddenly life seems a little better and richer than just a few seconds before. I seem to recall seeing far more rainbows as a child. Is that because adults no longer bother to look for them? Are we so cuaght up in the daily grind that we don’t stop to appreciate a rainbow? And just as I was staring in awe at this rainbow (it took a half minute before I realized I should photograph it), a second, slightly less intense rainbow formed just behind it! Two rainbows with perfect arcs that stretched as far as the view from my room and windows allowed! I know the scientific explanation has to do with refractions of light on rainfall or moisture in the air, but I don’t care really, I just love the resulting rainbows. And that silly other saying that you need to follow the rainbow to its end to find the pot of gold? This bright rainbow seemed to end exactly on top of a nearby home, and I wonder if the homeowners realized they were wealthier than they thought they were, if only for a few seconds, this morning. Actually, the rain should have been a major bummer, as we were scheduled to climb to the top of mountain that was 350 meters high… But just as quickly as the thunderstorm blew in, it blew out, taking the rainbow with it… Next up, a spectacular view of the city of Cebu from the top of a nearby mountain…
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Hi MM. that’s a magnificent view.:) True, i hardly see any rainbows now unlike when i was still a kid. Btw, i wonder if this was taken up in lahug area, maybe Marco Polo? Forgot to mention that am actually based cebu. Originally we’re from Manila but we’ve taken to the life here as it has all the same conveniences minus the stress and traffic of manila! Hope you have a great stay…
Hello MM! About that saying . . .”there’s pot of gold at the end of the rainbow” I was told is a metaphor on how life can hand us trials and tribulations but at the end of those “potholes in life” is a rainbow which represents God’s love and promise. Remember God gave Noah a rainbow; so every time one sees a rainbow after the rain, it is God’s sign that He will never destroy the earth with a flood. Therefore, how one handles his/her “potholes in life” and how he/she treats others will depend on the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow which again is a metaphor for a lesson learned and blessings received. . .OK, I think I said a mouthful there! Getting back to the pix you took of the double rainbow . . . simply beautiful! Take care!
Hi MM, did you know that rainbows are actually perfectly circular? They’re just such huge circles that you can only see the arc that’s above the horizon. I know this because I’ve seen a completely circular rainbow while airborne in a two-seater Cessna airplane. The two of us saw it. It was completely amazing.
I never quite understood all the mumbo jumbo about light refraction in grade school which was supposed to explain rainbows. For one, it didn’t explain the arc shape to me.
But now I think I understand. You know when light hits glass and you see a tiny split-second sparkle with a kaleidoscope of colors? I think a rainbow is the visible part of a gigantic sparkle that lasts quite a while due to its sheer size.
Well, so much for the pot of gold. Turns out there’s no ‘end of the rainbow’. But I will still forever love Dorothy’s song and especially Kermit’s song about it. I suspect perhaps God will never understand our fascination for rainbows. Maybe to him it’s just a lot of ado about split-second sparkles :-)
hi, MM! maybe, just maybe, there’s no need to follow the rainbow to its end to find our pots of gold anymore, coz like in your case, I guess when you said the phrase I quoted below, it’s already enough…
“when you draw open the curtains in your hotel room early one morning in Cebu, stare out at a passing rainstorm, and suddenly, a stunning, nearly solid and very vivid rainbow appears, you inevitably smile, and suddenly life seems a little better and richer than just a few seconds before.”
God bless you and your family!
Indeed, some of the best things in life are free. :)
Those are beautiful pictures of rainbows, indeed its a reason to smile! I remember going up to Mt. Pulag, and being literally at the end of the rainbow! I was looking for a pot of gold before realizing the thrill of being there itself was the real GOLD :)
Great and very clear picture of a rainbow! Here, where we live, we just get enthralled by how beautiful they are and when we take pictures, it doesn’t match up with the magnificence which they really are. I even saw a rainbow during midnight (!) and it was drizzling also. The rainbow was colored white and had a very distinct arc…not a ghostly and vague image but a solid white arc in the sky! Not at all easy to take a picture of. So, like someone who has seen a UFO, you can only say it with a sheepish grin :-).
its nice to just sit down and relax and enjoy the nature.
Good that you still see rainbows in the daytime! I usually see them lately in puddles of grease. It means that your inner market-child is still there. ;) Next up, shooting stars at night!
Sights like that just lift your spirit, don’t they? On a clear day, Mt. Rainier seems to be at the “end of the road” on my way to work, and although now I don’t gape enough to risk running off the road, the majestic sight still never fails to amaze me. Of course, that’s when it’s not drizzling…the joke here is that when one can’t see Mt. Rainier it’s raining in Seattle, and when you do see Mt. Rainier, it’s going to rain! :)
Dauy, gimingaw hinoon ko sa Cebu da! Thanks for this post!
Magnificent view and very cost-effective. Rainbow color connotes one’s sexual orientation – gay or lesbian. If you see a bumper sticker in rainbow color, you know the owner is either gay or lesbian!
Maria Clara, have you had a chance to see Castro district in San Francisco? Talk about a sea of rainbows…bright and cheery rainbow flags flying everywhere.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with it” — a famous line from Seinfeld
eej yes, I’ve been there. I guess they came up with rainbow color so there will be no cat calling and if they live in the area you know them that is their territory. But they live everywhere predominantly build their own community and they care of their community. Why I know this – I live in a community with them so if friends ask me for my house I just tell them I am next door to the house that is painted in light purple on right and fuschia red on the left and across from the house that is painted lime green which is next to lemon yellow colored house!
Hmmm… more like a bag of tangy Skittles to me, Maria Clara!
Wow! I’ve seen a double rainbow just once and it’s awesome. I’ve always been fascinated by rainbows . . . when I was a little girl (ages and ages ago) I once walked solo through a couple of barrios in my hometown Malolos chasing a rainbow, hoping to get to the pot of gold (I had visions of dwarfs guarding it). For a homebound scaredy-cat who was allowed to go no farther than one grandma’s house to the other grandma’s house 2 blocks apart . . . that was one great adventure for me. Rainbows, for real and in pictures, never fail to make me smile and look back with fondness on that silly girl. Thanks, MM, for sharing your rainbows.
Pecorino, I remember Dorothy’s and Kermit’s versions of the song. But lately I find myself humming to the beat of the version in “50 First Dates” (Drew Barrymore). Search it, you’d love it.
Catalina, the song (Over the Rainbow) in that movie with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler was by IZ (from Hawaii). Unfortunately he died I believe in 1997 at the age of 38 due to obesity. IZ’s renditions were heard in Finding Forrester (with Sean Connery) and Meet Joe Black (with Brad Pitt & Sir Anthony Hopkins). I think of all the “versions” of Somwhere Over the Rainbow, I truly loved Iz’s version the best. The album was released in 1990 featuring such songs like Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World. May his soul rest in peace.
The most rainbows I’ve seen were in Hawaii.
Always a beautiful sight!
MM, thank you as always, for writing about interesting things.
Simple things can also be pleasures to treasure.
Catalina, I also liked that “50 First Dates” song version
of Over the Rainbow.
When I was a child, I was so fascinated with rainbows. I remember we had to remember the colors of the rainbow in our Science class…ROYGBIV.=) I have a 3-yr old daughter and it’s so sad that she has yet to see a rainbow. Just a month ago, after a downpour, my hubby was walking me to the bus stop, and there it was staring right infront of me, a HUGE rainbow! I think, the last time I saw one was when I was still in HS. So you can just imagine my excitement, and hubby can’t understand what I’m so excited about. I had wanted to take a pic but my camera phone can’t zoom that far. As for the rainbow song, I sing to my daughter the Nips jingle, and that was a long time ago, I can’t get the lyrics right.
Beautiful!!! I remember catching a glimpse of count this…7..rainbows on a flight home from Palawan. This was many moons ago but to this day it all seems so fresh in my mind. I haven’t found anything quite so ideal as of yet :)
aaaahhh rainbows… its so hard to capture one in a camera!
“Wanna see what happens in a bag of Nips?
What goes on before they touch my lips?
They make a rainbow… (Chololate Nips)
A choco rainbow… (Chocolate Nips)
And then they color all the flowers and they paint the trees
So sweet and delicious look at all those bees
When I want fun I get a bag of Nips
and make a rainbow!
Nips… Nips!” -=(“,)=-
I’ve never seen a “double rainbow” before! Just amazing!!!
I have Over the Rainbow versions by Iz, New Found Glory, Joe Satriani, Tom Jones, George Michael, and Eva Cassidy. I hope to have more soon.