I can't claim to be the originator of the title of this posting; it belongs to the project manager for the CIPS instrument, Mark Lankton, who used it in reference to "Habemus Papam" ("We Have a Pope!"), the exclamation when a new Pope has been ordained. Peeping through the cleanroom window this morning, I saw the fruits of our labor over the past few years, standing upon its handling fixture. I'm not sure if it's beautiful, it actually looks like it's been through a lot and come out somewhat haggared, but it finally has a shape and an identity that existed only in our imaginations before. To be honest, I'm only faintly moved by it, having been stripped of ownership in its design and construction, though I do appreciate its significance to the team and to the lab.
Something that did move me, however, was the scene when I made the right turn from the bike path onto the gravel utility road on my way to work this morning. Looking westward, I was confronted with an intense rainbow set starkly against an inky black sky. The photo fails to capture the image in my mind, staring at the blackness where the foothills used to be, beguiled by the strip of color spread across the landscape, and stopping for just a moment to appreciate the serendipity.
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The rainbows in Boulder are more breathtaking than the ones in California. I'm jealous.
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