On a cloudy day, the still water which stands along the road of the Grassy Island Wildlife Refuge looks dull and covered with a thin coating of scum.
But when the sun shines through the trees at just the right angle, the water magically lights up with beautiful rainbow colors.
According to the West Tennessee National Refuge Complex website, “This rainbow effect on the water is caused by the release of natural oils in decaying vegetation (and particularly from the bald cypress seed pod when it falls from the tree), which produces a thin film over the top of the water”.
This fleeting transformation is just another of nature’s many amazing surprises.
“Never forget to stop to appreciate life’s unexpected awesome moments.” ~Unknown
walking on a country road 
An an awesome find! Thanks for the explanation too, I learned something and now for something to look for!
I had seen it before but didn’t know what it was. I hope you get to see it someday.
Wow! That is really beautiful. Thank you for the great explanation too. I’m going to try to get to Reelfoot in the next couple of weeks. I hope its still there!
Just be sure to go when the sun is shining. We went in the early afternoon.
Wow, this is so cool – I had no idea that such a thing existed!
Nature is full of surprises. 🙂
That is amazing – you got not just the rainbow of colors, but the reflection onto the colors. What a treat to see!
I read about it and saw photos on the mentioned website and was excited to go see. It was quite amazing!
I love this natural effect on the water. – most odd.
It is strange the way the colors are not visible to the eye one minute and visible the next. It is a curious and interesting sight.
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