ARCOBALENO

Friday morning was grey and drab, just like my mood. I was walking along, thinking of Tennyson's line,

"On the bald street breaks the blank day",

when I happened to glance up.  And there, above Modica, was one of the most beautiful rainbows I had ever seen. [The photo does not do it justice.]  It was only there for a moment but it really lifted my spirits and my thoughts turned [not for the first time in Modica] to some lines by Colette, which she attributed to her mother, Sido:

"Regarde la couleur du ciel au couchant, qui annonce grand vent et tempête. Qu'inporte le grand vent de demain pourvu que nous admirions cette fournaise d'aujourd'hui? Regarde la première pousse du haricot, le cotylédon qui lève sur sa tête un petit chapeau de terre sèche..... Regarde, vite, le bouton de l'iris noir est en train de s'épanouir! Si tu ne te dépêches pas, il ira plus vite que toi!"

"Look at the colour of the sky at sunset, warning us of strong winds and a storm. What do the strong winds of tomorrow matter as long as we can admire today's burning fire? Look at the first shoots of the bean, the seed leaf popping up with a little hat of dry earth on its head......  Quick - look! The bud of the black iris is opening.  If you don't hurry it will go faster than you!' " 

Actually, Sido probably didn't say it but what matters is that the words were written.

Afterwards, I suddenly I found myself humming this song:

Annette Hanshaw - If You Want the Rainbow