Promised (and nearly missed) Rainbows

Saturday night, we went to a little local Italian joint for a pasta dinner. "Carb loading," we called it, even though one of us read somewhere that it's not really important/necessary to carb load for a sprint triathlon. Whatever. I'll take any reasonable excuse to pig out on noodles.

After dinner, I stepped outside to make my goodnight call to Zozo. I told her I was looking at an amazing rainbow because it was raining and the sun was out. I also told her I would take a picture of it when we were done talking so I could bring it home and share it with her. And then, as we talked some more, I watched the rainbow start to fade. I struggled with the conflict of wanting to continue talking to her and wanting to get off so I could shoot it and share it with her later. I opted to talk.

After we hung up, I tried to capture what little was left. I messed around with the camera for a few minutes, debated deleting the photos that didn't show much of anything, gave up, and headed back into the restaurant. I was disappointed, but I consoled myself by reasoning that she probably wouldn't remember the conversation anyway. She's not even five yet, after all.

Fast forward to this morning, in the car, pulling into her school's parking lot.

"Mommy? You forgot to show me the picture of the rainbow you saw."

I parked the car and pulled out the phone, found the picture, and showed her. There's the faintest sliver of rainbow captured. Although hard to see, it was enough. Satisfied, she said, "Okay" and checked it off the running list of "Things To Remember" I swear she keeps in her brain. And I breathed a sigh of relief for making an effort to capture something, and keep it despite its limitations. Far easier than trying to explain why I didn't have a photograph when I promised her one.