Pollyanna's prisms:

I am not going to complain about the rain, rain is good... although it has been raining non-stop for over two weeks and my geraniums have gone to rot! Rain is good. It's been a great relief from the blazing hot sun and months and months of one-hundred-plus-degree heat. It has washed everything clean again, even my car. Rain is good, I love the rain. But rainbows are even better.

On our road trip to North Carolina last month, it rained most of the way there and all of the way back. Sometimes it just drizzled and sometimes it rained so hard I could barely see the car in front of me. But what I'll remember most about the Summer of 2009's rainy season is the magnificent rainbow we saw outside Birmingham. It was on August 28, my Mother's 81st birthday. Around six o'clock, the rain had settled to a steady drip and as we crested a hill, there it appeared in all its beauty. It was as big as a mountain and shone bright in the setting sun. It had been a long, long time since I'd seen a rainbow. I had almost forgotten what a wonder it is. My Mother and I saw it at the same time, and in unison we cried, "Look!" We marveled at how bold the colors were and what a vast amount of land it covered. She seemed pleased when I reminded her it was her birthday. She smiled and said, "Not everyone gets a rainbow for their birthday!"

"Why, Mr. Pendergast, how did you do that!," breathed Pollyanna, her fascinated eyes on the brilliant band of colors across the wall. "It's prismatic reflective light," huffed Mr. Pendergast, "Don't you know anything?" "Isn't it beautiful?" exclaimed Pollyanna, "Like a real rainbow came in to pay you a visit!"