A Double Rainbow - from my hometown. Some thoughts on Earth Day

Happy Earth Day

 

I captured this rainbow from the front porch a couple of weeks ago.  It's not often you see a perfect rainbow and here was a perfect double rainbow.  I Facetimed both my sons and my husband to share this.  Pretty soon rainbow photos started to crop up on Facebook from around the area.  People had different perspectives and different views, but we were all sharing the excitement and wonder of the moment.

 

This shot is from my hometown.  It's very small.  When I was growing up, this land was all farmland.  Over the last few years new houses have sprung up and roads were built and power and water and sewer were laid in.  The farmland has been replaced with lawns and driveways.

 

Here in the center of Kansas, we're about as far from the ocean as you can get in the continental United States.  It can be hard to understand that the choices made in this small town in rural America impact people thousands of miles away.  It can be hard to realize that what flows out from this idyllic spot flows onto someone else's idyllic spot. And the reverse is true, too.   As my father would have said, choices have consequences.

 

Just like lots of people saw this rainbow and shared their photo, it's good to remember that lots of people are sharing the consequences of the choices we make.   Big choices, like what kind of energy we use to power our homes and vehicles, and smaller choices, like plastic straws and recycling.   The perspective may be different, but the fact is we are all sharing the experiences.  Unlike the rainbow, the experiences won't vanish.  We'll just keep sharing them. Unequally.  Because climate change has a bigger impact on the most vulnerable.

 

We can't all be activists, but we can all be active.  We can make different choices.  We can choose to appreciate and care for what we have.

 

Before it vanishes.  Like the rainbow.