Visiting good friends 1
No travel is quite as wonderful as visiting a dear old friend. Even when the reason for the trip is a stressful presentation (more on that in another post!). Sitting around the house, petting her cat, helping her study. Going out to breakfast, walking 10 minutes in the wet Seattle weather to a new place in their neighborhood. Talking about whatever comes to mind. Making up stories to help her remember obscure or generic psychological assessments for her upcoming exam.
In the evening we sit working and studying, and suddenly there’s a rainbow. We climb on the coffee table together to see better, watching its colors grow darker, then fade, then grow dark again. We both run to get our cameras, then go downstairs and outside, in bare feet on the wet grass, leaning to capture the full arc. “That’s our good luck” she said, thinking of her exam this week, and my presentation.
“Isn’t there supposed to be a pot of gold at the bottom of the rainbow?” I asked her. We met in kindergarten, and I remember the pictures we used to draw together, crayons pressing color into paper, imagining the treasures we would find under rainbows. “Maybe we should go down the street and see what’s there?” I teased, feeling the spark of wondrous possibility we had when we explored as kids.
Where did that idea come from anyway? Is there a fairy tale with rainbows and pots of gold in it?
03/21/2011 at 5:50 am
I love rainbows, especially when you can see the full arc. I find it telling that you saw it right before St. Patrick’s day! I thought the leprechauns lived at the ends of the rainbow. I hope your presentation went really well and your friend’s exam. There is nothing like an old friend. It is like putting on your favorite old pair of shoes. It is comfortable and you get to revisit yourself in the past in a way.
I loved your post about finding your edge. Powerful and provocative. I will be thinking about that as I go through my day today.