Here I sit with a book on my lap, unopened. I did plan to read it thinking this was a good time for it as there was nowhere I could go in this heavy downpour. Rain! The good of rain is it waters and refreshes the face of the earth. No argument to that. The other side of it is it restricts a person’s mobility in carrying out his daily affairs. Further one is made to wrestle with huge traffic jams, muddy potholes on the street, damp hair and shoes, short tempers, and floods. Imagine the inconvenience, disorder, and disruption it creates. All that considered, it sure puts a person’s patience and wits to the test. Ah! But life is an oddity of both the good and the bad.
There is one thing that I consider utterly frustrating –it’s when it rains on an important date. My lunch buddies and I, sure you know who they are lol, planned this trip (Sienna was to drive this time) on Maria’s invitation to their famed fiesta celebration. She said she’d cook our favorites (this ploy always does the trick on this bunch of food piranhas) and would take us for a bath in the river which she always called her private swimming pool. lol She went on to describe its cool clear waters and the sight of a pretty waterfall nearby cascade down from the lush mountain wall. Although it was still a couple of hours drive from her town yet -- it certainly intrigued us no less. We mused - when was the last time we bathe in a river? Let me correct that – they not me. I was born and grew up in a city and have been living in one since. So then the trip appealed to me for that hoped-for experience. So really I’m into this not so much for the usual trappings of a town celebration, 'seen so many before. Miles of colorful bunting hang up in strings, buzzing activity in the kitchen, tables laden with all kinds of gastronomic pleasure, old women in busy chatter, children frolicking in homes and out on the streets, evening dancing and revelry, men drinking till they puked Ugh!!--and followed by a big hangover the morning after. They never learn! You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Although I’m hoping she’d have some pasta for me there (lol was that too predictable?!) And yes – she cooks a mean apple pie! For that I’d cross the seven seas.
Hey wait! It’s stopped, the rain has stopped! I rushed to the window in anticipation and lo! - a brilliant sun shone amazingly just after the past rain. Now who wouldn’t be ecstatic as the thought of the trip danced in my mind? And the swim in the cool waters of the river – that thought thrilled me more than anything else lol. I turned to head for the phone to call up the gang, but a bunch of small kids on the street nearby caught my eye – they were pointing to the sky wonder plastered on their awed faces. Seeing nothing from my window I decided to go down to the street to see what the hubbub was all about. And there it was – a rainbow! What a beautiful sight! Standing there glued to the pavement, we simply feasted our eyes on the rainbow which literally took our breaths away. No matter what science says about a rainbow, I think it is plainly for the eye to see -- the heavenly signature of a glorious and magnificent God. Just breathtaking!
I don’t remember who wrote this but he said --- “There is nothing more beautiful than a rainbow - but it takes both rain and sunshine to make one. If life is to be rounded and many-colored, like a rainbow, both joy and sorrow must come to it”.
Honk! Honk! -- blasted Sienna on the car horn smiling mischievously. “Hey! Are you going to stand there all day?” “C’mon, we’ve got a long ride ahead” yelled Marcia good-naturedly. Oh yes, I did have my swim in Maria’s swimming pool lol. The river was just as she described it. Fantastic! Yup, life is a rainbow :-)
posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 7:31 AM
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