Clouds in my coffee

Some years back I was fascinated by clouds. Here are a few of my favorites. These photos, however, don't reveal how spectacular the sky truly was on these days, particularly the first photo. In it, you see the dark clouds of a storm slowly covering the sun. The depth of it and the contrast between light and dark thrilled me. A photo just can't capture that intensity. Maybe a painting could. I don't know.

The next one was after the storm. You can still see remains of the dark clouds, but slowly the sun is breaking through. That was a good day to photograph the sky.

Once again, this photo is about contrast. Deep blue sky, the bright sun lighting the sky, and the dark clouds of a spring storm make for a lovely view.

This was at dawn one day. "Red at morning, sailor take warning." I'm not sure if this is the red they were talking about in that old saying, but we did have a storm later in the day.

This is a sunset. I took several photos of the luminous border, trying to capture how energetic it looked. This was the best one.

Storm clouds again. I like how the dark clouds and black tree frame the sky on three sides. But there's gold in the center. Nice sky.

One of my favorite photos is below. The dark trees, the sky beyond, the tunnel-like effect all combined to give this photo drama and excitement with a hint of mystery. It's like you're walking through a dark place, and you finally see the light.

And why was I fascinated by clouds? And why am I still? Don't know for sure. Maybe because they represented freedom. Skydivers who fall through clouds say the clouds are damp, gray, and wispy. Not solid. Just diffused moisture. No magic lands or magic door. No magic.

I never have seen shapes in clouds. My imagination doesn't work that way. I see clouds as they are, but they do carry magic for me. It's a sense of wonder. Maybe even a suspension of disbelief.

I wrote a science fiction story once where people trained to be cloud surfers on anti-gravity surf boards. Of course, the science was wrong, wrong, wrong, but I still loved the idea. There just wasn't much of a story; it was cloud surfers dueling to the death. I always thought the Silver Surfer in the Fantastic Four comic books was a great character; okay, not much of a character, but the concept was awesome: a being sailing on the cosmic waves.

The thing is I can offer all sorts of explanations for my fascination, but like all of the ones that grip me, I have no idea why clouds hold my interest. Maybe ... just maybe ... they represent the unexplored places where no has gone. Or not.

I will take more cloud photos, of course. Maybe one of them will show a stern giant staring down at us. Wouldn't that be a wondrous surprise?