Rainbow Effect

Of course we learned in class that rainbows appear when sunlight refracts through fine water droplets. I’ve posted about that before. It’s textbook science and a Sunday school lesson straight out of Genesis. But have I ever mentioned my technicolor rainbow sunglasses?

Made to protect sensitive eyes from the very sunlight that is 50% responsible for rainbow beams, my special sunglasses refract light, or something less scientific I suppose, causing everyday objects to be cast with a spectrum of color. When I tilt my head just so, I see everything with an extraordinary rainbow effect. Really and truly.

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Each time Marina and I go yard sale-ing together we super-score on fabulous finds. The girl has a gift for scouting out good sales up there in SLO county. On previous forays I’ve obtained rare antique books from the 1800s; a still-in-the-box, bronze kitchen faucet; a quilted coverlet that keeps me warm, and just this July, my magical rainbow sunglasses.

They look quite average so no one even knows. They were there on a long table under a tall white oak tree in a tangled heap of perhaps one hundred other pairs, just dumped out and labeled, “Five bucks each.” I assume a drugstore had a close-out or something. Having just that very morning failed at repairing my current sunnies a new pair was indeed on my to-do list.

I now take great delight in wearing my new shades. They make me smile and how could they not? But my very special sunglasses, strangely enough, are no doubt defective rather than design specific. That very defect imparts a view of everyday life in another light—through another lens if you will. And it’s quite a wonderment really.

When the simplest of things in life no longer make me smile, bring me joy, cause me some sliver of that wonderment or even a base level satisfaction, then I know I’m overdue for a diagnostic. Am I sleeping enough? Eating okay? Getting enough fellowship of some sort? Even on the cloudy days these few things alone help me see a rainbow here or there. Imagined or not. Even without the glasses.