Appreciating Rainbows

 Living in Hawai`i, there is natural beauty all around if we just look for it - the clear blue ocean, white sandy beaches, the stunning mountain ranges, colorful fauna, and gorgeous rainbows. I will admit that I took these things for granted. Many years ago, a friend mentioned that she had never seen a rainbow until she came to Hawai`i, and she would delightedly point it out whenever one appeared. It made me appreciate rainbows more.

After retiring four years ago, I am much more aware of why we live in a very special place. With my trusty iPhone, I take photos of vibrant sunrises, puffy white clouds in the bright blue sky, huge full moons, and rainbows. When COVID forced us to keep our distance from others, walking was a way to get exercise and to be outdoors. I found myself looking for and taking photos of rainbows. In January 2021, I wrote a blog post, “A Metaphor for Hope”. I shared a photo of a rainbow and shared that I was looking forward to better days ahead with the availability of a vaccine. It is clear today that life will never get back to how it was pre-COVID, but we are learning to adjust. We know that without the rain, there would be no rainbows. 

I subscribe to the Hawaii Bulletin a series of articles written by our friend, Ryan Kawailani Ozawa. He writes interesting and diverse articles about innovation and innovators in our state.  This morning’s article, delivered via email, was titled “Exploring Hawaii’s unmatched rainbow connection”. What a wealth of information! I learned so much, and honestly, I don’t quite grasp all of the science and the math, but here are a couple of interesting facts. Did you know that the Hawaiians had different names for different kinds of rainbows? Did you know that geometry plays a role in why Hawai`i has so many rainbows? Finally, sadly, climate change and global warming will have an impact on rainbows in the future.

Ryan shared that University of Hawaii Professor Steven Businger (Read his blog here) has created an app called Rainbow Chase, a free weather app. I downloaded and checked it out. There are amazing photos of rainbows as well as other information such as where the next rainbow might appear from where you are presently located. (Right now, the app is limited to the four main Hawaiian islands, the Western US, and Okinawa). If you love seeing photos of rainbows, check out the app. 

I decided to end this blog post with some of my favorite photos of rainbows.

I remember that I was walking our dog in the mid-afternoon when this beauty appeared! I’m glad I captured it in all its glory!

My photo doesn’t do this rainbow justice. It seemed to be touching the ground; it was gorgeous!

This was taken back in 2017. We had University of Hawai`i Rainbow Warriors football season tickets, and we were tailgating when this rainbow appeared. I told my husband to stand there so I could take this photo.

This might be my favorite of them all. Our grandsons were visiting and we were taking a walk prior to them going back home. We were in the right place at the right time. They don’t see many rainbows where they live.

And finally, to end on a hopeful note, here’s our favorite rainbow song. Enjoy1

Rainbow Connection