The Blubock Cloud Quest

26 Sunday Apr 2015

Tags

clouds, imagination, mystery, nature, nature's art, skyscapes, therapy, West Texas

When I looked up and saw this amazing cloud looming overhead I was mesmerized.

Like any really good photographer, I set out to find the perfect vantage that would allow me to capture the majestic splendor painted in the sky. That didn’t work out as well as I had hoped (since I’m not a really good photographer)… and I ended up driving all the way across town in my quest.

Cameras were out all over the place and I couldn’t help but feel a special bond with the faces intently peering through an assortment of lenses in our shared state of awe. A version of it was even featured on the evening news, not surprising for a town that has the luxury of repeating the same news segment several times a day. I had to giggle just a little when the weather guy at one of our local television stations said he wasn’t sure what kind of cloud it was. At least he was honest.

Me being me, I gave it a fake name and immediately started to create all kinds of scenarios to explain the presence. Scenarios that went far beyond my initial, “That’s a really cool cloud” assessment. Of course, I started with the obvious – visions of a sleek alien ship using it as a cloaking device, and moved on to considering an army of supernatural beings kicking up cloud dust as they waged a life and death battle. The “good guys” fighting to save Earth and the tiny inhabitants peering up at them through an assortment of lenses in a shared state of blissful awe, oblivious to the immense danger, while the “bad guys” were – well – being bad guys. After playing that last scenario out in my head for a bit I decided I was much happier with my initial assessment – that’s a really cool cloud.

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The Cloud Factory

08 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by Gert in Out & About

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Tags

clouds, roswell, scenic views, science fiction

I have had a fascination with clouds for as long as I can remember. As a child, I would spend many happy hours staring up at them, admiring the artistic works that looked like tufts of cotton gently caressing the sky. Sometimes my siblings and I would compete to see who could find the best images – pointing out clouds that looked like animals, or people, or some other familiar shape – hoping the others would see your vision before the restless fingers of the windy artist reshaped it into something new, never satisfied with the masterpieces floating silently across the brilliant blue canvas.

In school we were taught that clouds form as a result of cool air mixing with water vapors to create pockets of condensation, and possibly ice crystals, that are suspended above the atmosphere, waiting and hoping to become rain drops. There was a bit more to the lesson of course, but that was a very long time ago.

Over the years I have outgrown many of my childhood fascinations, but this isn’t one of them, as you can see from the photo collection below:

Imagine my surprise when I discovered there may be more to this cloud thing than we were originally told. Kind of like that Roswell thing. That’s today, isn’t it? Anyway, while travelling along I-40 recently I collected this data that shows how clouds are really made…