From My Cyberjournal 78 October 2006 copyright/all rights reserved/Alfredo Roces
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Signs that appear in the sky are ephemeral. They vanish within moments. My camera chanced upon a rainbow following a passing shower while on Victoria Street in Chatswood. A bird perched on the traffic light caught my eye, and I moved closer for another shot. The traffic officer in a bright green jacket (see first photo) caught up with me and chatted me up about the beauty of the rainbow while I was reloading my memory card (yes the "card full" sign in the camera always catches you at the worst time), and by the time I was ready for a more controlled third photo of the bird and traffic sign, the rainbow was gone!

On another recent occasion, a rainbow appeared while I was watering the lawn at home. Grabbing my camera, I dashed up to the balcony overlooking the stormy sky. The rainbow colors were somewhat faint but visible, still I needed some subject to add interest to the scene. Just then a magpie in a flutter of wings descended from the antenna of the house across the road to the balcony rail right in front of me. Deja vu. Some years ago, I had fed this bird bits of cheese so I could photograph him catching morsels in the air (see Cyberjournal12. August 2003). He must have a phenomenal memory, or maybe he was hungry, it was so long ago. But now there he was as though by appointment. I was presented with a model happy to pose for me beside a rainbow. What a serendipituous instant. After taking some quick photos, I went down to get some cheese and when I returned to the balcony Mr. Magpie was still there quietly waiting to get his reward. I haven't seen him since.

Also recently, during our usual walks to the cemetery, I watched a small airplane write a message in the sky. It spelled"Hooters" for some football team in some stadium nearby. Unlike my friendly magpie, my good wife Irene is the most reluctant of models, but anyway I managed to persuade her to pose for the chance to write on the sky before the message melted away.

Sky signs. Take the time to read them or you will miss out.