Rainbows; I just can’t get enough of them! I snapped this picture while staying in Avon Colorado just a few years ago. As you can see this is a double rainbow. The outer one is always the faintest, and the colors are just the opposite of the brighter arc. I’ll bet most people don’t know that little tid-bit of information. The most common sequence of colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. As you can see in the faintly visible second rainbow the sequence starts from the underside of the arch, and not the outside (top.)
If you’ve seen very many of these optical messengers you’ll know that they can be formed by rain, mist, dew, spray, fog, and ice. I have enjoyed these meteorological phenomenon from the sub-arctic to the Barbados islands, from the Rockies to Hawaii, but their message to me is always the same. Genesis 9: 13-15 says “I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.” It is a promise an everlasting covenant that cannot be broken, but it also reminds us that God does not “wink” at our ways! In the old days I could of said “wink at our sins!” but that is not politically correct anymore, so I won’t say it.
I don’t know about you but when I was a kid I used to think “if only I could find the ‘pot of gold’ at the end of the rainbow, my dad wouldn’t have to work so hard!” We’d be rich and mom could have all those things she deserved. Me and a couple of my buddies even tried to walk to where we thought the rainbow was touching that pot of gold. We never seemed to get any closer, and after a few blocks we gave up our dream. The reason (I found out when I got older) that you can never reach the end of a rainbow is because when you move toward it, it moves further away from you! A rainbow is an optical effect which occurs due to the position of the viewer.
Every time I behold one of these “messengers” I get a sense of awe and wonder about me being a special part of this planet called “earth!”
Mike
[...] Mike put an intriguing blog post on RainbowsHere’s a quick overviewRainbows; I just can’t get enough of them! I snapped this picture while staying in Avon Colorado just a few years ago. As you can see this is a double rainbow. The outer one is always the faintest, and the colors are just the opposite … [...]
I love it when I see a rainbow. I know the science behind them, but they still seem miraculous.
Love those rainbows – one of the only times I REALLY hate being color blind. I can usually see two – occasionally three – colors in a rainbow…which is mildly frustrating when people are oohing and aweing over the colors!
Rainbows are very cool. They do seem like something created from the heavens. I liked your take on them Mike.
I honestly saw one just a few months back. Wish I would’ve gotten a picture of it now.