Thursday, June 24, 2010

Rain and Rainbows

We have received a ton of rain in Kansas City this Spring. It has been nice for my flowers and yard, but has certainly caused lots of flooding and damage in the area.

Here is what is left of a retaining wall at my office:

I showed this picture to my roommate, the insurance adjuster, and his comment: "No Coverage". (to you laypersons, that means insurance will not cover this damage.)

A view of the best part of a storm - the rainbow afterwards!


Just so we can all feel a bit smarter today, I decided to Google to learn more about rainbows. (don't you just LOVE google? I swear, it is something I don't know how I lived without.)

RAINBOWS:
What you are actually looking at when you see a rainbow is falling rain. The falling rain causes white sunlight to bend into separate wavelengths of visible light. This is what causes the colorful bands that form the rainbow. To see a rainbow it must be raining in one part of the sky (in front of you) and the sun must be shining behind you. When you see a rainbow the sun will always be in back of you and the falling rain will be in front of you. The rainbow continually changes because each falling raindrop bends the light slightly differently. In addition, no two people ever see the same rainbow because the wavelenghts of light will be slightly different depending on where you are in relation to the falling rain.

Oh, and just if you are curious...the pot of gold is just folklore. :)

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