I suspect most people share my fascination. I’ve always had a thing for the sky. When I was a boy, I had a refractor telescope and spent hours looking at stars, planets, the moon. During the day — this will bring back some childhood memories for many folks — my friends and I would lie on a blanket, looking for “special” shapes in the clouds: animals, faces, things of religious significance (I was a completely brainwashed Catholic back then).
Clouds! What a gift! What a wonder!
Not all of the time but often enough, we have some truly majestic skies here in my hometown. Yesterday was just such a day. My bike ride was especially splendid.
I’m sure it helps that Tambasasayama is far from any congested, urban area. Though I have to say, compared with, for example, Los Angeles — I lived there for 15 years — the skies over Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe are pristine.
Anyway, only two hours after these photos were taken, here’s what we got . . .
Did I ever mention how crazy the weather is here? Granted, we don’t get snow in the summer, but just about everything else rolls around, alternating from clear skies to lightning, thunder, light rain, heavy rain, wild windy storms, back to clear skies, beautiful clouds.
It rained for about 40 minutes. Then an hour after that, it looked like this . . .
Could it be much more unpredictable? Shifting? Whimsical?
Returning to clouds. They sure carry a variety of messages, encourage some wild imaginings, evoke a range of reactions and sentiments. I know someone who said it best! One of my all-time favorite artists/singer/songwriters!
