James River, After the Rain

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We had a golden hour after the rain, as the sun set, illuminating the world with its long gilding rays.

We’d left home in the pouring rain with thunder rumbling in the distance.  But by the time errands were accomplished and dinner had, the sun shone again on a much cooler and softer evening.

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Mist rose from ground and pavement to rejoin the mighty storm clouds still scuttling across the evening sky.

When we turned onto the Parkway at last, a rainbow greeted us, rising up from the dark pines into the iridescent clouds above.

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We saw a thick column of color rising nearly straight up.  And then we played tag, watching for it to reappear as we drove through the forest along this winding riverside road.  I hopped out of the car to capture it time and again from different angles and with different backdrops.

The clouds over the river, rising in tall shimmering, gilded mounds, competed in this celestial pageant.

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It is all a play of angles, this sunset beauty, unfolding against the cadence of the sun’s dropping towards the horizon.

The evening grows dimmer and cooler by the minute, rainbow light fading back into darkening clouds.  More rain creeps ever closer.  By the time I reach the beach, our rainbow is gone.

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The James is high.  Days of rain upriver have filled its banks to their brim and beyond.  Familiar logs and branches are lost below its gentle windblown waves lapping at the sandy shore.

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We hear frog song and birds calling out as evening closes around us.   Dark clouds hug the horizon now, and we head home in the wetness of this summer evening.

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But the rainbow lives on, in these photos and in our hearts.

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Woodland Gnome 2016

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About woodlandgnome

Lifelong teacher and gardener.

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