Yesterday I saw the end of the rainbow (updated)
Seventy-some miles to the south of me, a farmer is looking out the window over his fields and wondering if I’m going to treat him fairly. He’s already told me he doesn’t expect I will.
He knows how we are, being insurance people and all.
Seems a few motherly cattle went looking for their little ones and trampled his corn and beans. We’re rained out here this morning, his dirt road just a little too soft with the overnight storms to let us get close enough to see how much damage these anxious mamas did. So I can’t yet put his mind at ease.
We’re not all bad, I tell him. He’s not convinced.
The morning showers have changed my schedule for the day just long enough to give me a brief, very brief, respite in a long week where the work day has tended to start before the sun and end well after.
I have just enough time to rest here for a few short minutes.
The Wreckage
I spend a lot of my day on the backside of a camera, though I’d never even jokingly consider myself a photographer, amateur or otherwise.
I don’t worry about lighting or composition. I don’t capture the wonder or transmit the soul.
Some broken places I've been hanging out lately
All I do is snap photos of the wreckage.
I spend my days climbing damaged rooftops, crawling inside broken trees, tromping through wet basements and poking around banged up cars, just waiting for the next bad thing to happen so I can earn my keep.
The Wonder
A few weeks ago after my descent from her rooftop, I asked a homeowner if she minded a quick trip to her garden out back. She didn’t.
Thing is, I’m not a gardener. Not even interested most days. Flowers are nice, but they don’t move me.
But I’m trying.
I figure, I look at ruins all day long. I see folks’ hardship. Their broken things, their soggy messes, their bruises and breaks and scars.
So I’ve made it a part of every stop to point my camera at something good. Something lovely. Something true.
I try to find the wonder in that wreckage.
Some white and yellow flower thingies that survived a nasty hailstorm
Some chickens and I had an early morning chat before I climbed
Too much for me to even absorb, taking care of this
Even when they break, they're beautiful
Happily enough, my clients insure lakeshore property
A thistly thing of some sort caught my eye one day near the Continental Divide
Yes, grass can grow a long way from the ground
The rainbow’s end
I remarked to a former colleague the other day that I was really enjoying the chance to work outdoors and get loose from the office. But wouldn’t you know it, the best image of the week showed up from an in-office view.
Last night, from a 5th-story office, I watched hail pound cars and winds thrust rain horizontal and wondered if the word of a tornado touching down south of town was true. I strained for a good view of the hail, for don’t you know, the size of the stones says a lot about what I’ll be doing for the next few days.
The storm moved through, and when I stopped mentally measuring hail and standing water, I saw the end of the rainbow.
A tornado may or may not have touched down. But there, just past the trees, I saw the end of that color-striped arc blend with the glistening grass.
No pot of gold. But a treasure nonetheless.
Would that I’d had better than a cell phone camera and rain-streaked window glass.
As for today, I’m slipping on my barn boots, getting back on the road to slog through what remains of a septic tank, a sewer pipe and a very messy home.
I’ll be sure to point the lens at something lovely before I’m done.
::
Update:
Back from the septic tank. With pictures of something good. But I was torn, which was better:
White feathers as far as the eye can see
Torn? Who am I kidding? (Yes, I washed my hands first.)
I just knew you would one day come over to the “gardening” side. You are getting closer and closer! I can’t wait to see your first planted flower!
Great post once again, friend.
2010/08/13 at 10:49 AM
Ha, you’re a funny one. I’m not growing any yellow flowery thingies. Just trying to notice them.
Gotta get over to your place, I see your posts in my reader and I need a few extra minutes!
2010/08/13 at 10:51 AM
Lyla you crack me up…
the 3rd pic with the mass of flowers is the best kind of garden the flowers take over and there are minimum weeds…minimum maintainence. They call it a wildflower garden because the flowers grow wild. Thistle flowers are one of my favorites and my all time favorite color of purple. T
2010/08/13 at 11:01 AM
Holly, the woman who tends that garden is over 80 years old, walks with a cane and pulls her oxygen behind her on wheels. She’s out there working it every day. I can’t even fathom…
2010/08/13 at 11:06 AM
lyla!!!
You finally got your wish!!!
Barn Boots and Bib Overalls!!!
2010/08/13 at 1:11 PM
I could’ve used a set of coveralls today, now that you mention it. But I think that was hiking boots.
2010/08/13 at 3:45 PM
Finding wonder in the wreckage. We could all stand to do more of that. I know I could.
2010/08/13 at 1:14 PM
Me too, Sandra. Me too.
2010/08/13 at 3:46 PM
Lyla:
The smart aleck in me (who looks for unintended meanings, or puns, in sentences) believes you saw the terminus of the rainbow, not the end, since the rainbow is a sign of one of God’s promises.
Whenever I see a rainbow, I don’t hear Dorothy singing, I hear the words of the old spiritual, “when it looked like the sun wouldn’t shine anymore, God put a rainbow in the sky”.
Cell phone camera, not withstanding, good picture of the rainbow from the old Milbank Mutual tower.
Dad
2010/08/13 at 3:23 PM
Ah, got me there. Took me a minute.
Yes, as the sign of unending promise, to think I saw the end was just an illusion.
2010/08/13 at 3:48 PM
Love this, Lyla. And love the way you are approaching work a little differently, trying to redeem the ordinary and broken.
I loved the picture of all those ducks, though. And those chickens.
2010/08/13 at 3:56 PM
Better than Dairy Queen though? Really?
2010/08/13 at 4:00 PM
Your efforts to photograph “wreckage” and “broken things” is interesting. And then to find the good is especially healing. I know people who go looking for all the bad and terrible things in life — and never find the rainbow.
love this post and… all your posts
2010/08/13 at 4:03 PM
Unfortunately David, in many ways my job is to look for the bad. And point it out. And then try to put a price on it, whether it’s damaged property or broken limbs. Unless something goes wrong in someone’s life, I don’t get paid. It’s a little unnerving sometimes.
But this making myself look for it, in the middle of loss, it’s good for me. I like to think it was good for the lady with a leaking roof and a beautiful garden, too.
2010/08/13 at 4:11 PM
Ahh, yes, you are speaking my language. Treasures in the darkness, in the broken, messy places (physical, emotional, spiritual) God places treasures. Sometimes we have to traipse through a lot of damaged territory to find it, but if we will look, the light of His presence will lead to something lovely. I liked this post a lot friend! Stay safe out there.
2010/08/13 at 7:07 PM
Oh Nancy, you are so right. You find your treasures in those places, don’t you? And look — there was ice cream at the end of it all.
2010/08/13 at 7:23 PM
Jeepers…I almost missed the update….
Yum! Dairy queen..almost as good as Hobby Lobby? LOL
2010/08/13 at 7:46 PM
Almost? What is wrong with you people?
Some days the good is so easy to find…
2010/08/13 at 8:52 PM
Barn boots? Well now I know who we can call on to do our hog chores when we want to go away for a few days!
2010/08/13 at 8:17 PM
Oh, Betty. Your hogs are not so naughty they’d deserve me trying to take care of them. A pair of barn boots does not a farmer make.
2010/08/13 at 8:52 PM
The rainbow picture was awesome….and really helped bring your point across….I have never seen a rainbow from that angle and perspective before…
2010/08/14 at 11:48 AM
Karen, nor had I. Had to be the elevation that gave me that view, and it was amazing.
2010/08/14 at 3:19 PM
Lyla, DQ is always the right choice!
By the way, what did you have?
2010/08/15 at 5:36 PM
I think it lovely that you look for the beauty among the wreckage, for isn’t that what we are all called to do? Praise in the storm; gratitude in the struggle – it is what draws us closer to Him.
The pictures are just great!
2010/08/17 at 7:32 PM
I thought I’d commented on this before, but when I came back to re-read it, I see that I didn’t.
This post leaves me in awe for a myriad of reas0ns. That grass on the roof? … We just never know where the good soil is, do we?
On so many levels, I thank you.
2010/08/18 at 12:41 AM
fabulous.
sometimes I feel like certain aspects of parenting are like this.
especially as they get older and come to us with all of the mess and hope we can fix it.
and I used to have my own little garden maintenance business, and the best part was looking at the finished beauty after arriving at the mess. because it’s there. somewhere. always.
2010/08/18 at 9:10 PM
the mental picture of you chatting with the chickens… I love it! I am so glad to know you, Ly. Thinking of you always comforts. This post tells me a little more why.
2010/08/19 at 7:44 AM