Did you know that today is Find a Rainbow Day? This day is a good excuse to look up to the sky and find a rainbow when it rains and post it on social media. As a child one was fascinated to see such thing in the sky with such vibrant colors. Rainbows appear after or during rain when there are water drops in the air and sunlight shining from behind the observer at a low altitude angle.

As kids, one was told that at the end of the rainbow, there would be a pot of gold brought upon by a leprechaun, which had many of us fooled and ready to find the end of the rainbow; but did you know you can never get to the end of a rainbow? This is because rainbows are based on the observer’s orientation, that being us, so as we move, the rainbows move, too! Have you ever seen a double rainbow? Well, this happens when light is reflected twice in the same raindrop. Therefore, two distinct reflections coming from two different angles are seen! When on the ground, one can only see half a circle of the rainbow, but if you were in an airplane and looking down, you’d see the rainbow as a complete circle, being that the weather circumstances are just right!

Rainbows are magnificent views, and people have different opinions on them depending on their culture. For example, in Judaism and Christianity, rainbows are believed to be associated with God’s protection, while others see it as a representation of a bridge or an archer’s bow. Many countries see it as a place in the mythological systems of many cultures that is personified as a god or goddess, specifically the goddess Iris, the Greco-Roman messenger. Albanians believe it is seen as the belt of the goddess Prende, the goddess of beauty, fertility, and health, and the protector of Women.

So, if you see a rainbow (which is very unlikely because it is a sunny day haha), celebrate its beauty and see it as a reminder to spread love because we all can make this world a better and brighter place!