Dear Reader:

If this weather pattern, we are in right now, is any indication, it could be a long, hot dry summer. So, as much as watering is not my most favorite thing to do ( I see dollar bills spraying out of the hose) I have decided that I must change my attitude about it. The sun has helped me do just that.

The last few times I have watered one area of the yard (that doesn’t get watered from the garden hose set-up) beautiful little prisms of light have appeared reflecting off the water droplets and spray emitting from the hose. I can’t help but smile at the little rainbows forming, almost at will, in the daffodil area of the back yard.

I found these directions for making rainbows, after I just accidentally discovered the process, by being at the right moment, at the right time, at the right angle to the sun. (I love the idea of touching the spray that is causing the rainbow…as close as we will ever get to feeling a rainbow.)

Turn your back so you are directly opposite the sun (you’ll know when you see the shadow of your head in front of you). Using a garden hose with a nozzle, spray some water about 40 degrees from the shadow of your head and you should see an arc of color. Lee said that much as you can touch a mirror but not the image in it, you can also touch the spray that’s causing the rainbow — about as close as you can get to actually feeling a rainbow. 

Sprinkler in a rainbow

Is there anything prettier than catching a rainbow in your own backyard with the sprinkler on?

Under an article titled: “7 Colorful Facts You didn’t know about Rainbows” (Adrienne Lewin, Today contributor made this comment about Kermit and his top recorded song “Rainbow Connections.”

Kermit was wrong when he sang “rainbows are visions, but only illusions” in the song “The Rainbow Connection”: They are indeed visions, but not illusions. “A rainbow is very real in the sense that it’s an image that you can photograph,” explained research professor Raymond L. Lee Jr. of the U.S. Naval Academy, co-author of “The Rainbow Bridge.”

“Anything that can be photographed is not an illusion.” To be more technically accurate, “The Rainbow Connection” should say, “Rainbows are images but certainly not objects.” (Lyrically, however, Kermie wins on this one.)

The Muppet Movie (1979) | Rainbow Connection | Kermit … – YouTube

If I ever listen to this sweet, sweet song (The Rainbow Connection) I know I will be humming it for days. It is one of those songs you just can’t get out of your head. In fact, yesterday, after writing this blog, I watered another area of the yard and hummed it every time another prism formed…I have the formula down pact now for producing rainbows….such a feeling of power! *

Maybe I have found the “Rainbow Connection”! 🙂

Talking about connections.…our Jo Dufford and Lynn Gamache are connecting since Jo has read many of (Lynn’s author/father) Phillip Keller’s books and enjoyed them so much. ( I ordered the Phillip Keller book on the theme of spiritual gardening…it should come in any day now!)

Lynn also sent some photos of her life in British Columbia. I am having some problems saving them to my file….will keep trying…but the pictures are beautiful….Lynn has a home, along with her son on a five acre stretch of land that is breath-taking…seeing pictures where someone lives and family helps us identify more with each other doesn’t it?

I remember when my own “children” went off to college and then got their first apartment…it was important for me to go and visually see their “digs” so when I talked to them I could envision their surroundings.

Don’t get me started on the red cardinal “condition.” I have moved my car and gone overboard to accommodate the cardinal’s family but all in vain. The side of my car and mirror are beyond disgusting…no matter where I park. I have been gagging just thinking about it when I go armed with paper towels and Windex to clean at least twice a day.

Many of you have “chirped” in with similar problems (Lynn, Patty, Dee and Mike, etc.) Everyone has tried covering the mirrors with hair nets, cardboard, bags and it proves only a temporary solution until a storm comes along and blows them off or they have practically wrecked their cars changing lanes…having forgotten to unveil the mirror before driving.

And yet, as Rodney Dangerfield would say, “We still can’t get no respect.” Here we try to be compassionate and accommodating for nothing. It is becoming a contagious problem I think since when I went to the Bi-Lo parking lot yesterday, I spotted two cars and one truck, besides mine, plagued with the same disgusting problem on their side view mirror and side doors.

“Yes…we’ve got trouble right here in River City!”

I am beginning to think that TIME is our only friend…we must survive this nesting period, with hopefully a long break, until next year rolls around. I salute you my formidable cardinal…you have been a determined opponent!

*And Mike I think you are right…I can identify ‘my’ cardinal now, also, with his beady eyes, pursed beak, and cocky attitude…I talk to mine like you…to no avail.

So until tomorrow….Have a wonderful day….with thoughts of rainbows in your head!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh