Rainbow

May 30th, 2018

I like to walk with Shocky at dawn. It is peaceful then. There is very little traffic on Oakwood Road at that hour. I am usually already up and awake. If I am not, Shocky makes sure that I am. Shocky is an affectionate border collie, one who needs to go poddy very early in the morning.

As we left the house, I caught a glimpse of the local fox loping across a nearby street. The fox is occasionally in our yard. I once found the remnants of a rabbit under the spruce trees after a fox visit. The fox is always on the move. Hunting, always hunting.

We walked along the road, and went past a pond. Shocky got restless. I looked to my left. There a deer at the edge of the pond, staring at us. I waved to the deer. She didn’t wave back. She just stood there with her dark eyes following our movements.

The wind was out of the south, warm and humid. I could confirm the direction by looking at the steam billowing out of the stacks at the power plant by the lake. Low clouds were gathering. I looked to the southwest and was surprised to see a rainbow. The rising sun must have been just a the correct angle to catch some raindrops in the distance. Shocky and I stood still. I marveled at the spectrum of light playing in the sky.

Four mallards flew over us, quacking as they flapped their wings. I had to marvel at that too. How is flight even possible? I had that elusive sense of wonder. I looked around me the way I did when I was a child.

Shocky and I headed back home. It started raining. A light, gentle rain. It was just enough to quicken our pace.