Legend has it that leprechauns bury their gold at the end of the rainbow. But have you ever seen the end of a rainbow? Do you know what you’ll find there? Well, it turns out that sometimes at the end of the rainbow, you’ll find my lilac bush entwined with a rogue grapevine.
Let me explain …
We’d been inside most of the day because of lowering skies, drizzling rain and occasional hiccups of thick downpours. The anticipated thunderstorms hadn’t arrived, but it had been a stormy stay-inside-and-read kind of day. The skies seemed to be clearing, we’d just finished dinner and I was itching to get out and move a bit.
“Hey, wanna go for a walk?” I asked my husband, Kurt.
“Yeah, sure,” he replied.
I left the room to get my shoes on and moments later heard him call out, “Whoa! Check out the rain!”
Oh, no, there goes our walk! I thought, then looked out the window. Sure enough, the rain was pouring down in sheets. The sun, however, had emerged from behind the clouds in the western sky, and in its rays, the rain fell like liquid silver. We squinted, trying to look at it, dazzled by the combined brilliance of sun and rain.
“There must be a rainbow out there somewhere,” I suddenly announced, and I dashed outside, heedless of the rain, spinning slowly around in the driveway, scanning the skies.The rain eased from downpour to drizzle, and still I searched.
“Oh! ” I finally cried. “There is one! It’s gorgeous!”
Kurt joined me outside and we both stared at the intense rainbow forming over our house. It was simply stunning, the most vibrant rainbow I’ve ever seen. It pulsed with color, each hue vivid and distinct. I followed its arc over our house and then down, down, down …
“Oh, my gosh! Look!” I said, pointing. “You can see where the rainbow ends! It’s ending right in our yard!”
Sure enough, the arc of the rainbow came down directly through our grapevine-covered lilac bush and ended on the grass below. We both gaped.
“That’s unbelievable,” I said. “I’ve never seen a rainbow’s end before.”
After a few moments of marveling at the sight, we turned back to look at the full dazzling rainbow over our house. Slowly, a second, faint rainbow formed, arching over the first.
We stood in the driveway for long minutes. The rain stopped completely, the clouds parting to reveal brilliant patches of blue. Everything sparkled, bejeweled with raindrops. The rainbows lingered.
“Well,” Kurt finally announced casually, “I know where I’m digging tomorrow!”
His words broke the spell, and we both laughed, then turned to go on our delayed walk.
But, back to my original question: Do you know what you’ll find at the end of a rainbow? It turns out it’s not just my lilac bush and a few Concord grapes. The legend is true. If you linger and look carefully, there’s treasure to be found.
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