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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