Gathering Clouds

 Gathering Clouds...

This is a photo I took recently just outside our house. I have begun taking note of cloud formations since there have been so many striking ones appearing. Seasons are beginning to change, weather patterns are shifting, etc. I am not alone in my love of and curiosity about clouds.

Unsurprisingly, since time immemorial, humanity has been fascinated with the sky.

"Will the sun rise today?"

"Will rain come to water our garden?"

"Will we have a break from all the rain so that our land can soak up what's already been given?"

And, of course, there are other types of clouds that gather in our lives.

Clouds of worry.

Clouds of fear.

Clouds of despair.

It is unfortunate that we, as a population, never seem to associate clouds with "good" things happening. Why is that? Clouds are water stuck in the sky. Nothing too ominous about that, right?  Ha!

Clouds of Happiness (perhaps bright white clouds in an azure sky).

Clouds of Thanksgiving (perhaps clouds cloaked in sunset colors).

Clouds of Anticipation (hmmm....give that one some thought and let me know what you'd suggest as an example).

Then, there are "road trip" clouds--you know that game right? As a child in the back seat on a long road trip with no hand-held games to occupy ourselves, my brother and I would gaze out the window and play the cloud game. The cloud game was where we would each have a "side" (of course) and would be watching the sky for fantastic cloud formations. What would our imaginations summon up out of those formations? Well, what any young child would--animals, monsters, sometimes people. 

Colors of clouds--most of the time, the color of a cloud is caused by sunlight hitting water particles in the cloud (which act as prisms) that then colors the entire cloud. Back to other photographers on FB and Instagram, there have been incredibly gorgeous photos captured lately of clouds that remind me of Louis L'amour westerns and the paintings that were sometimes a part of any presentation of his work.

What are some of your favorite formations? Do you have memories of cloud games as a child? Car trips (I think folks still take car trips, right? I am thinking of one particular person in my life who just LOVES to drive--4,000 miles over 3 weeks recently).