Jerry Smith wishes everyone had seen the beauty that he saw Friday morning. It was, he said, so stunning that he wanted to share it with everyone on the island. So he called The Garden Island newspaper. And we’re happy
Jerry Smith wishes everyone had seen the beauty that he saw Friday morning. It was, he said, so stunning that he wanted to share it with everyone on the island.
So he called The Garden Island newspaper. And we’re happy to share his delightful story.
“It was the first time I ever saw a rainbow, let alone a double rainbow, in the morning,” a still-exuberant Smith said. “It blew me away, the colors were so brilliant.”
The 79-year-old lives just off Kawaihau Road. His home offers views that stretch to Kealia Beach a few miles away. Each morning, he takes a look through the screen doors leading to his lanai to check the weather.
Friday, when he glanced out about 7:45 a.m., his eyes were greeted by a double rainbow. He stepped out on his lanai and stared and marveled at an intense array of colors. It was, he said, like time stopped just for him and created a masterpiece.
“I reveled in it,” he said. “I went out and watched it and gloried in it.”
But not for long. He knew it would last only another minute, perhaps seconds, and he wanted others to witness this show. He hurried to get his granddaughter so she could see it, too. When they returned a minute later, the second rainbow was gone and the single one still there was disappearing. At 7:48, it was gone, like it was never there.
He called it a “passing moment of glory on Kauai.”
But the sight will be forever etched in Smith’s mind. He hopes, he prays that others saw it, too.
“All my life I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Smith, who has traveled often and lived in many states before settling on Kauai about 15 years ago.
At first, he didn’t know what to do.
“I could (only) stand and yell,” he said, laughing.
But he knew he wanted to share this experience. So he called TGI.
“What a grand place to be,” he said. “Only on Kauai.”
We get lots of calls each day. Some from folks who are upset. Some from people seeking news or sharing a news tips. But none have matched the sheer joy expressed by Smith. He was uplifted by the double rainbow and radiated his happiness well into the afternoon. Such was his euphoria, he called it one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.
“This was a crowning glory in the morning,” Smith said.
Rainbows, he said, are fairly common in the afternoon. But first thing in the morning? And a double rainbow?
“It ain’t going to happen again in my lifetime,” Smith said.
But if it does, you can bet he’ll call TGI. And we’ll share the story with the rest of Kauai.
