Rainbows


There is gold at the end of some rainbows. Gold beyond imaginings. 


But there are dragons as well. You cannot kill a dragon. You cannot resist the touch of a dragon’s smile, eyes or words. You should resist it with every ounce of your being. But in the end, all you can do is not become one.

Comments

ANC49 said…
I'm intrigued by the second rainbow. Presence and seeming absence. Agree rainbows are magic. Appreciate your thoughts on the second rainbow. Tony
Monday, March 29, 2021 at 1:55:00 AM PDT
Peter Quinton said…
A small amount of the light passing through a raindrop bounces off the front of the drop and onto the back of the raindrop before continuing on its way - imagine a zigzag. Depending on the position of the sun, and the amount of light hitting raindrops, a second faint rainbow appears. The faint rainbow is a mirror image of the first - with red at the bottom of the band rather than the top.
Two observations can be made. It is easy to determine which 'double' rainbow shots are fake. Secondly, the mechanic by which this occurs is not rare - it happens most times. However, it is relatively seldom that an observer is in a position where they can observe the second rainbow - let alone a full sky rainbow.
Discontinuities and anomalies are commonplace in these type of shots - in older cameras this is exacerbated by lens errors, but more frequently it is caused by raindrops appearing at white line noise.
A little like a human being reflected by a mirror - the second image strength is dependent on the light falling on the original. but it will still be a mirror reflection. Any injury or defect in the original may be magnified in the copy.
As for myself, I have fallen a couple of times in the field recently, re-tearing the injury that killed me briefly a year ago. That this copy of myself is less tangible is probably simply a sign of impermanence.
Cheers mate
Tuesday, March 30, 2021 at 8:01:00 PM PDT
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