Mother Nature is having mood swings...

Rainy, windy, sunny, cold. That best describes the past two days. Mother Nature is at it again. She can't decide whether to let winter hang on for a while longer, or let spring officially begin.

Having had such warm, dry days in January, February, and part of March, it's no surprise that things have taken a turn. That's spring in Oregon (and with what came before many of us expected as much). But does it have to be so serious about it?

The picture above was taken out front yesterday, late afternoon, after a twenty minute downpour. Notice the blue sky.

When I looked out back I saw this....It seemed close enough to touch, but still elusive.

Then the sky lightened slightly and another rainbow appeared...

Even though I've seen double rainbows before I don't recall ever noticing the dark band between the two layers of light. I learned today that the band is called Alexander's Band, named after philosopher Alexander of Aphrodisias.

On rare occasions a third rainbow can be seen.

Of course the rainbow plays a big part in mythology.

In Green mythology, the rainbow was considered a path made by a messenger (Iris) between Earth and Heaven. In Chinese mythology, the rainbow was a slit in the sky sealed by the Goddess Nuwa using stones of five different colours. In Christian mythology, after Noah's flood the Bible relates that the rainbow gained meaning as the sign of God's promise that life would never again be destroyed by flood.

And of course Irish folklore, dating back to Old Europe, has the legend of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, put there by fairies, guarded by leprechauns. ;)