The Sculpture Garden Overhead
At first I asked myself: have you never looked at clouds before, Peggy? Was all this extraordinary stuff overhead here your whole life and you never noticed?
But then I discussed the matter with others. I'm not the only one in a state of astonishment over the recent cloudscapes. The sky over central North Carolina this summer has been astonishing.
Magnificent architecture up there. Most every day. Most every direction.
Is this because of global warming? Is this because we've had more rain and less drought this year?
All I know is, I spend much of my commute leaning over the steering wheel to look up. And sometimes lean out the side window to get a better view. And occasionally pull over and stop.
My phone camera doesn't begin to do the clouds justice. But here are a few snaps anyway. May we all be the artists that the sky has been these recent days.
Postscript: And then we spent the weekend with friends at Lake Junaluska, clouds snagging on mountains all around. When we got out at an overlook for a picnic, we were inside a cloud, suspended droplets and white mist, like rain that's on Pause. Seemed the perfect place for white wine, chicken salad, and pistachios.
And then the cloud-lit road home:
Categories: 2013
Tags: Lake Junaluska, North Carolina
Comments
Interstate 40?
I-40 it is. You recognized the I-40 clouds?
I have noticed cloud formations this summer also. They have been much more complicated than usual.
Did it begin this summer, do you think? This is when I started to notice.
For around a dozen days, between Nairobi and Nakuru (inclusive), the clouds in Kenya were majestic – and very different, lacking the North Carolina brogue (any strong regional accent – my paternal grandmother, Snow Camp location, was all Wright – said to be Irish). "Carolina moon keep shining – shining for the one who waits for me" – high school glee club circa 1960-1962 at the brand new Southern High School consolidated – Alamance County.
Today I went up to Crystal Mtn here in the Cascade Mtn Range, Washington. The sky was blue and cloudless. Loved it that way too.
Sounds like just the right kind of sky for a mountain with the name Crystal, Patricia.