Chasing Rainbows

Chasing rainbows generally refers to trying to achieve something that is not possible or practical. About a week ago I was away in the Okanagan Valley for a break and to see the harvest (more on that next post) and  while there experienced some amazing rainbows.

The Valley had not had rain for 9 or 10 weeks, allowing for ripening and harvesting of fruit, vegetables, nuts and grapes. So when some storms brought rain (and rainbows) no one seemed to be complaining.

In the first picture I managed to capture two small planes as well:

I photographed two rainbows, the first seemed to shine right down on an orchard, and lit up the surrounding area.

Dreaming of Rainbows

"A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection of light in water droplets in the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured arc."

"Rainbows caused by sunlight always appear in the section of sky directly opposite the sun.

In a "primary rainbow", the arc shows red on the outer part and violet on the inner side. This rainbow is caused by light being refracted while entering a droplet of water, then reflected inside on the back of the droplet and refracted again when leaving it."

"In a double rainbow, a second arc is seen outside the primary arc, and has the order of its colours reversed, red facing toward the other one, in both rainbows. This second rainbow is caused by light reflecting twice inside water droplets." (Wikipedia)

I did not see a double rainbow but here is the second rainbow, from much later in the day.

"The rainbow is not located at a specific distance, but comes from any water droplets viewed from a certain angle relative to the Sun's rays. Thus, a rainbow is not an object, and cannot be physically approached. Indeed, it is impossible for an observer to manoeuvre to see any rainbow from water droplets at any angle other than the customary one of 42 degrees from the direction opposite the Sun. Even if an observer sees another observer who seems "under" or "at the end" of a rainbow, the second observer will see a different rainbow further off-yet, at the same angle as seen by the first observer. 

A rainbow spans a continuous spectrum of colours. Any distinct bands perceived are an artifact of human colour vision, and no banding of any type is seen in a black-and-white photo of a rainbow, only a smooth gradation of intensity to a maximum, then fading towards the other side. For colours seen by a normal human eye, the most commonly cited and remembered sequence is Newton's seven fold red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet."

"Rainbows can be caused by many forms of airborne water. These include not only rain, but also mist, spray, and airborne dew." (Wikipedia)

This one seems to rest on the top of a hill.

Then slides down into the valley.












Just after the rainbow was gone:

So apparently one can't actually catch or find the end of a rainbow, well that won't stop me from trying.

Here is "Somewhere over the rainbow" sung by Judy Garland

This little lady followed me as I was taking pictures; I think she thought I had a treats for her, or maybe she was following a rainbow of her own.

The late afternoon light after the rainbows was beautiful.

Here is a little something for Master E and his Grandmama, both faithful followers of my blog. Master E had a severe respiratory infection and spent a few days in hospital last week. He is home now though and getting better with each day.  He requested a video, so here is a chickadee:

I have been away quite a bit lately and although I have started quite a few painting projects, I haven't finished any so I thought that I would share one of my favorites from a few months ago. This is "Path of Light" and it seems to me it contains all the colours of the rainbow:

  

This is a watercolour of a pathway that I photographed while in Italy a few years ago.

Well that's all for this week, Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next time .............