|
||||
|
sigh. i think being in the army, or specifically in the dumb part of army where you follow instructions blindly, for too long is very bad for your brain. This is what happened today.
(NSF officer from a reputable JC walks into office. He looks around, sees only 2 or 3 people.) Officer: Wah, everyone so busy ah? no, they just don't like your face, so they're hiding. Clerk: Err... yeah. Sir, there's a fire drill later at 1.15. Officer: Fire drill ah? Hm. Am i involved? no, officers are fireproof. Zzz. Of rainbows, pots of gold and $1 coins
Today, just before 5pm, it rained heavily. The sky was entirely white and so filled with moisture that you couldn't see the rain fall - it came down in a whole, solid sheet. Thankfully the rain had slowed to a drizzle by the time I reached the bus stop, and we (all of us on the bus) enjoyed bright sunlight and a very beautiful rainbow on the way back home. What is it about a rainbow that just seems to buoy the spirit? Just today I was frustrated with all the screwups and incompetence in my company (mine included, I admit) and then, a companionable half hour wait and bus ride later, I'm all smiles and warm fuzzy feeling again. Somehow seeing a rainbow, especially one as large and clear and beautiful as this one, and having it follow me all the way home from Lim Chu Kang, had a profoundly calming effect on me. Part of it is the sheer beauty of that vista; a huge rainbow arcing through the sky on one side, warm sunlight shining through grey clouds at eye level on the other. But the part of it is less easy to define. Rainbows evoke a sense of wonder; of innocence and childhood, and those times long ago when the appearance of a rainbow after rain was sheer magic to you, like the flamboyant triumph of light over rainy darkness. But I digress. Was chatting to a friend on the way home. Most of it was nonsense, but somewhere in the interim the conversation shifted to that rainbow up in the sky and the pot of gold at its end. He said (and i paraphrase), we'll be lucky to find a one dollar coin there, let alone a whole pot of gold. It occurred to me that if you could really somehow find the end, the true end of the rainbow before it faded, you would deserve more than just a dollar. You would find and regain your lost innocence. Reminds me of something else I saw in the sky recently. Last Thursday evening, I believe? We were reporting to the parade square for guard mounting (that's a sort of flag lowering parade that the night guards have to take part in before reporting for duty, for those not in the know), when a certain Mr Siew pointed out another beautiful sight in the sky and lamented that he didn't have his DSLR with him. The sun was shining through a break (a hole, really) in the clouds, and the effect was spectacular. You could practically imagine Jesus descending from Heaven on those rays of sunlight, as Mr Siew helpfully remarked. I recall that the sky was often beautiful at dawn and dusk on Tekong too. Sad that we only see such beauty in Singapore in such godforsaken places. Taking the good with the bad? Leopards are scary. Returning home from Ayer Rajah camp after CO parade i heard booming sounds that i thought was some kind of artillery firing. Only later when i reached camp (in Lim Chu Kang!) did i realise that what i heard was leopard live firing outfield. That's freaking loud o_O In camp it was even better. Incessant booms (and shockwaves) caused door and window frames to shake, and set off at least one car alarm.
It's 10.30 pm now and they're still firing. I'm listening to them fire while I type o_O |
|
|||