Watching a Rainbow

It was a Saturday... the 20th I think... and it was cold and raining... I was feeling thoroughly miserable... lots of homework, a midterm and a lab due the following week apart from the work I needed to be doing for my professor...

But things were not all bad... I had a date planned that night... However.... given the way that things were going... I was going to end up too tired to enjoy it... I thought about calling her and telling her to postpone our date....

But then I decided to wait a little longer before I made the call... I kept on working... fortunately I was not alone... I had a few underclassmen for company... good sports all of em... I helped them out with their work for a few minutes to take my mind off off my own problems...

It was evening when we decided to open the door to the lab to get some fresh air... I stepped out with one of the underclassmen... we were both ranting about how our instructors were all slave drivers... and then we stopped short... awestruck by the scene that greeted us outside...

It was a gigantic rainbow... bright and vivid.... the kind you see in picture books... we hurried over to the parking lot to get a better view... and were even more amazed.... the rainbow formed a fully complete arch... and vivid as a drawing the whole way through... we could see the aircraft on approach to the airport passing through the arc...

We yelled for the others to come outside and join us... and fortunately one of them had a camera... they took a few pictures... which they promised to send me (haven't done so yet.... must call them...)

In that brief moment... all my fatigue vanished... and I forgot about the cold and the rain... most of life's problems would seem insignificant in the face of such beauty.... But... even as we admired the magnificence of the colors and the size of the arch.... the rainbow began to fade... the sun had started to set....

Of all of natures displays of artistry... the rainbow is one of the most beautiful... and perhaps the most ephemeral... it was a reminder that even though all good things must come to an end... we must remember that every cloud has a silver lining... so to speak...

Just then... my cellphone buzzed in my pocket... it was her...

"What are you doing?"

If she had called five minutes ago... I would have probably given her an earful about my terrible workload... but... all of that seemed so insignificant now....

"I was watching a Rainbow"

END

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You know how they say that people should take the time to smell the roses? I think we all need to do that more often...

Nowadays... people are so caught up in some or the other kind of "race"... which is more generally termed as "the-rat-race"... but everyone has his or her own version of it... The thing is... I dont see too many people ever looking at the sky or admiring flora and fauna like I do (from time to time)...

Perhaps I am just odd that way... but I find that it makes me happy to look at nature... watching squirrels /chipmunks playing on that rusty old sculpture outside the ISTB, going out of my way to look at the cactus flowers when they bloom... etc etc... there is another incident where I was feeding birds... but thats another story...

Anyway... I digress...

The point I wanted to make is that we all need to get out of our own way and try to find some time to enjoy nature... the smallest things can often serve as great stress busters.... and simply make you smile... so... go out there and pretend you're a kid... chase a butterfly or play with a cat or puppy... admire the flowers... lie in the grass... something...