Journeys›Photograph

An Unexpected Sunset Rainbow at Home

·Lake San Marcos, California·#winter#sunset#San Diego#weather#rainbow
Bright sun low in the sky casts a golden glow over distant hills and a foreground fence under cloudy skies.

Stepped outside at home in Lake San Marcos as the sun dropped under a heavy cloud bank, dark to the north but clear along the horizon. That looked like the whole show — then an unexpected sunset rainbow turned up to the east, just as the sky went pink.

Not an arch, either. A single column of it, planted between the hills where rain was still coming down over the far ridges. As the color deepened, the rainbow shifted with it, more red and orange than anything else, standing against a sky that had gone the same shade.

Walked up to the road above the neighborhood to see it without the brush in the way. From the guardrail the whole valley was lit the same color as the sky, houses and hillsides included, with the rainbow still holding its spot over the ridge. It faded out with the color, and by the time I walked back down it was gone.

A colorful sunset sky with orange, pink, and purple clouds above hills, featuring a rainbow.Dramatic sunset over hills with houses, featuring a vibrant primary and faint secondary rainbow.A vibrant pink and orange sunset sky with a vertical rainbow over dark rolling hills and green foliage.Vibrant pink and orange sky above rolling hills, with a narrow, vertical rainbow reaching towards the ground.Pink and orange sky with a bright vertical rainbow over dark mountains and green foreground plants.A vibrant pink and orange sky with a bright vertical rainbow over dark green hills at sunset.Vibrant pink and orange sky with a partial rainbow over hazy mountains and dark foreground foliage.A vibrant purple, pink, and orange sky over rolling hills with a road and a partial rainbow.

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