Quartet

Do you ever start out intending to write about a particular topic and find your intentions being hijacked by the mention of a subject or word that calls up a memory?

It is bound to happen as you grow old, I suppose.

Yesterday I was once again drawn back to my years in Washington, though my thoughts do go there all the time, as that is where I lived with so many beloved cats. Perhaps I’ll devote a post to the 6 Himalayans I had the privilege of caring for. But not today.

At the risk of becoming boringly repetitive, I’m going to offer you a trio.

Which is where I intended going yesterday.

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In the early dawn twilight, Sunday had been an attractive shade of blue…

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…which full daylight turned monochrome.

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At least someone was enjoying a bright Sunday! Was this a taunt?

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It was like that all day, but in late afternoon, the Sun found a gap in the cloud to illuminate the hill opposite which recent rain has turned a dazzling green.

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In the waiting room tree, a spotlight fell on a little dove that posed for me.

Or appeared to, though I caught her from the kitchen window with the zoom.

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One of the visiting turkeys strutted past the kitchen, displeased with the rain.

At least, that’s how it looked.

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Only 3 days before, in similar weather, we’d had a spectacular, tall double rainbow.

This one had a very shallow arch. It is known as a low-angle or flat rainbow. I’d never seen one quite like it before.

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Golden rod in the lower field caught the Sun with a golden burst of colour.

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It was turning into a very pleasant evening.

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But 45 minutes after the first, lingering rain produced a second rainbow, not quite as flat.

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And not long before dark the elements threw up a third, tall, perfect double rainbow.

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Did I say I was offering a trio? Make it a quartet. We had another on Monday.

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Stirred by the wind, as significant rain continued to fall in blinding sunlight, the trees began to glitter and shone with the radiance of fine jewels.

Still photographs don’t capture the magic. If it happens again, I’ll try filming.

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22 minutes later: “OK folks, it’s a wrap!”

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But the iPhone was feeling capricious!

Now it was a wrap!

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