Chasing rainbows

Last night the clouds rolled in fast, just moments after Gene walked in the door from work. Five minutes later, big fat drops start plopping down on the deck and Gene says "Jesus, can't we catch a break?"

Jesus didn't answer, so I said "at least you weren't outside at work when it happened." Leave it to me, I'm Miss Mary Sunshine aka super optimist. It didn't last but a half an hour, and then the sun blazed through on the other side of the storm front. The front of the house was bright, and the back of the house was dark. I knew exactly what that meant...

My mind wandered a bit, and I started thinking Isn't it strange that you can remember the exact place that you were at some extraordinary moment in time?

For example, I can remember exactly where I was the moment I found out Elvis Presley died. We were at our friend's home, in El Dorado Springs, Missouri. You see, my dad worked away from home all week, and he stayed in a small trailer, this was about 4 hours from our home. He would come home approximately every other weekend. I was the littlest at the time, and it was very much like having divorced parents, so there's no question as to why, my father and I were never all that close.... but that's another post some other day that probably will never happen.

My dad had made friends with a wonderful couple, Mary and Jerry. They also lived in El Dorado Springs and were young and cute and I so loved them. BTW, they are still friends of the family, they even came to Amber's wedding and at Dad's funeral, Jerry did a horse call that was absolutely perfect for the occasion.

We were visiting Mary and Jerry's house. I was in the kitchen sitting in a chair, up against the wall, FACING THE STOVE (see how well I can remember?), and mom was on the couch in the living room in my direct line of sight. All of the sudden she GASP loudly and I turned and looked at her. (btw, the couch was orange and brown, I think mom was wearing a skirt).

Mom says "Oh my god, Elvis died"

My mom loved Elvis for years, I remember her crying on the way home and everyone turning on their headlights as a sign of respect for Elvis.

Years later, I was sitting in American History, watching over and over the explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle.

In 2001, on September 11, I had overslept and my ex called me to turn on the news. I got up and started getting ready for the gym (I'd joined for the first time the day before). I stood there with my gym clothes in my hands petrified at what I was seeing as I watched the first tower collapse. That's about when I started screaming.

I didn't make it to the gym that day, or the next four or five.



So last night, after the storm rolled through, and I saw an amazing double rainbow, I started to think about the first time I ever saw the END of a rainbow. I'd heard for years (well, as many "years" as a 7 or 8 year old can have) that there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I can tell you exactly where I was the moment I saw where a rainbow ended.

Now I can't give you the minute details like the color of the couch or what my mom was wearing, but I can tell you where we were sitting. On Highway 49, getting ready to turn east to drive into my old home town.

View map larger


The intersection sits at the top of a small hill. Down, into a field at the bottom of that field north of the intersection (right about where the satellite map shows the brown field), there it was. I could SEE where the rainbow ended. It ended in the middle of a cornfield in the middle of Iowa of all places!

Now my 7 year old mind raised. Not for the pot of gold, but the idea that I could stand in the spot where the rainbow ended blazed in multi-colored light. "Can we go down there?" I asked my mom and she chuckled when she told me no.

Now logic now, as a 29+++ year old, tells me that tromping through a cornfield after a rain storm is not wise, especially when (pssttttt... ) you'll never touch the rainbow. But really, part of me wishes mom would have just said YES! Let's go!

So last night, when I saw the front yard being bright and sunny, and the back yard full of dark shadows, I knew what it meant, I just had to find it. I peeked out the kitchen window and yelled "RAINBOW!" to Gene. He looked and said, "why yes there is" and followed me to the back door. I grabbed my camera and out I went.

In my pj's and no shoes.

In the country, next to a cornfield.

After a rain.

I was hell bent and on a mission that I was going to capture that place where the rainbow ended, even tho I knew for sure that I'd never touch that light, I would capture it on a photo forever.

So my feet got muddy, and I stood at the EDGE of a cornfield, soaked to my knees, but I captured it and I have proof that it happened not only once, but twice, and I got to live out a tiny piece of a childhood fantasy.