History Channel is wrong - you can catch a rainbow

I am sitting here watching the Cosmic Phenomena episode of The Universe on the History Channel, and my dad very nicely summed up the comment of one of their experts when he yelled "Bullshit!" at the screen. I missed his name, but the guy was explaining the physics of the rainbow and how the refraction of droplets of moisture catching light was what created the rainbow effect. That was fine, we'll believe that, but what we do not believe, and know he was wrong about, was the claim that you can not catch a rainbow, that it will always move away from you.

The guy is wrong. You can catch one. There is even a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but it is not what you expect. The "Pot of gold" is no physical treasure, rather it is the experience you discover that is worth a pot full of gold.

Let me explain. My parents have been in rainbows a few times, my mom told me about them driving across I think Texas once and driving into a rainbow. Her description matched exactly what my experience was when I caught one with my brother.

We were kids, early to mid teens, and we were riding his pony in Washington one day when there was a light sprinkle. As the rain subsided we saw a rainbow that touched down on the field across the creek from us. That was kewl, and we had never seen the end of a rainbow so close before, so we did what any kids on horseback would do - we chased after the rainbow. It moved, seemed like every time we got close it was moving away. As Sherlock Holmes would say, the game was afoot. We chased that rainbow each time it moved, snickering and enjoying the fun of the odd game of tag we had going and then - we caught it. Neither one of us had expected to catch the thing, had not thought it was possible, but there we were, sitting on the back of Chocolate with the air all around us glistening in the colorful reds and blues, greens and orange... all the colors of the rainbow were there, dancing in the air around us, glistening on our skin and clothing, on the pony we sat on. We were inside the end of the rainbow and it was lighting up the air all around us with its prismatic colors.

That was an amazing experience that is something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. So, if you ever see a rainbow that looks tantilizingly within reach, go for it. Forget what everyone says about never being able to catch a rainbow. Go out there and grab hold of the end of that rainbow, even if only for a second or two, and you will understand that there is a pot of gold to be found at the end of the rainbow. And that scientists don't know everything.