On the way home from the football the other day it started raining. Heavily. There was a lot of traffic and a lot of grumpy people. I was not stuck in traffic, because I was walking. (Smug.) I was not grumpy, because I love walking in the rain. (Double smug.) I will point out at this stage that while I love walking in the rain, I do much prefer it when it rains on me as I am walking home, as opposed to when I am heading somewhere. There's only so much hanging about in damp clothes that is pleasant. Anyway, the rain gradually started to clear, and some sun appeared. Automatically I started to do the rainbow dance, working out where the rainbow would - and did - appear. It was a great rainbow, a perfect arc, right over the river. I stopped to take a photo, and was aware of people stuck in the slow moving traffic also enjoying the sight. So, you may be asking yourself, why isn't she showing us a photo of this fabulous rainbow? Well, it's like this. I turned to cross over the bridge and the sky on the other side of the bridge took my breath away. Fishing around in my pocket for my phone, a couple of young lads were heading in the opposite direction, hoods up, huddled into their coats. As they passed, they looked up at what I was taking a photo of, muttered something to each other, and stopped to take a picture. Nature noticing at its best.
A friend was on holiday in the north east last week, and sent me a lot of triumphant rainbow photographs from Dunottar Castle. She said she was so excited when the first one showed up, and then they just kept coming. Even better, the rain was out at sea, so they didn't even get wet! However, she also reported some more sombre findings; she heard someone effectively complaining about the rainbow, saying "the weather doesn't know what it's doing". In fact she heard so many people complaining about the steps to the castle and the unpredictability of the weather that she began to wonder if she had happened upon a group of people, so used to seeing castles on cliff tops under rainbowy skies, that it was old news to them. Remember! Awe is good for you!
As is nature connection. The latest research has just been published, and demonstrates that actively noticing nature promotes more nature connection than simple contact with nature. Higher levels of nature connectedness benefit both people and nature, through improved wellbeing, more pro-nature conservation actions and more pro-conservation behaviour. Maybe now is a good time to mention, the 3 good things again. It's a simple way that I find reminds me to notice nature wherever I am, plus I get to think about it again every evening when I write down what I've noticed during the day. This week apart from the rainbow and the fabulous sky, I saw the full moon, golden leaves falling in the breeze and I have heard some very noisy squirrels indeed. What have you noticed this week?