Dear LPG,

There is little doubt that as we have become a more technical world, regardless of whether we keep up or not with all the innovations that make their appearances so often, we tend to forget the natural things that were once so significant a part of our lives.  It might also be that adulthood has something to do with the way that we often forget the natural phenomena around us as they get squashed out by the cares and worries of family and work.   But now, at the age of 74 nothing surprises me much anymore, and I think that with more than a year of pandemic-existing under our belts, we are even getting used to accepting that that is all just part of life.

All that having been said, I would like to mention something that I remember as being quite rare and magical when I was a child.  Did you know that today is National Find a Rainbow Day? That got me thinking about how few of them we really see these days.  

Science tells us that there are just two ingredients needed to produce one, but although the youngest of children find them easy to draw, I cannot find any proof that any person has ever managed to create a real one.  We, in England, are often blessed with our fair share of sunny days and April is renowned for producing lots of rain, but lately we rarely get the two together.  This may well be the reason that rainbows pass us by, although it may also be that we find more important things to look for. 

For me, rainbows mean colour and they remind me of Noah and God’s Promise, the Irish promise of crocks of gold, the LGBTQ connotations and they have also become one of the international symbols of hope during the pandemic that is so fresh in our minds. 

It is interesting to note that each real rainbow appears differently depending on the intricacies of the perspective that you view it from, although I also find it a little disappointing that, while they represent the symbol of so many positive aspects of life, we all know what they are but see so few of them.  

In fairness, we have not been able to get out to their natural viewpoints for a while which is why we are more likely to dismiss their significance, but I would like to encourage readers to mark today’s celebration of them whether depicted on flags, in windows, in history, as drawn by children or as represented religiously, as a symbol of positivity today.

GN, Kent.

GN offers her findings about the significance of the day…

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… some scientific information…

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… some more spiritual details…

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… and one or two real ones to look at…

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