By, Jo Carol Hebert

“Somewhere, Over the Rainbow . . . “

“. . . way up high, there’s a land that I’ve heard of once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the Rainbow, bluebirds fly;

birds fly over the rainbow; why, then, oh why, can’t I?”

This classic tune is from the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz. It was sung uniquely by the legendary actress and singer, Judy Garland. The words and haunting melody present a bittersweet song of the rainbow as a ‘place of no trouble’ – a symbol of hope in the despair of people’s lives.

A Rainbow Moment

Rainbows evoke happy, positive, even fantasy images. Suddenly, through the light rain, the sun shines and a rainbow appears. People, going along their normal way, are surprised by the special sight as they experience an ‘aha’ moment of delight. 

“Look, a rainbow!” 

Our agendas are put on hold for a moment to stand, looking up in awe, and even feel that we have chosen in a brief time and space to witness such a marvel. Then, we look ahead and continue our daily routines.

The Reality of Rainbows

Science explains the Rainbow. 

Our Sun radiates beams of energy through light. Light travels in a straight line at 186,000 miles per second in electromagnetic (electricity and magnetic) waves. It takes light eight minutes to travel 93,000,000 miles to earth. In certain weather conditions of rain, fog, mist, or dew, the light encounters obstacles of droplets of water. The light, which appears white, bends as it shines through the obstruction. 

This breaks up the light into the spectrum colors of which it is made: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet. A rainbow appears. The rainbow is actually a full circle, but we only see one-half, or an ‘arc’ because we are on the ground.

Rainbow’s End

As for Leprechauns and ‘pots of gold at the end of the rainbow’, some things in life are better left a mystery.

How can you remember the colors of the rainbow? The name, ROY G BIV

Let’s sing a long with Somewhere Over the Rainbow!