The clouds are so very beautiful this trip, not that they aren't on every trip we've made, but this year they just seem to be extraordinary. This is surely NOT meant to be a scientific accounting of the different types of cloud formations but merely an observation that every day they seem to present themselves in a different way. Did you ever really stop and take the time to look at them?
Typically, when I awaken while at the Towers I look out my window towards the French hills and I never know what I'm going to see. A couple of mornings the clouds were just plain ugly - a heavy shroud that almost completely obliterated the waking sun and laid a heavy gray pallor to everything within my view, and other mornings there were big puffy cotton candy-like clouds and the sun broke through and sent strong shafts of glistening sunlight through them for all our enjoyment.
And then there was the morning of all mornings this trip - the clouds were spread out thinly in the sky, vaguely resembling stretched out cotton batting - you know, the stuff quilters put between their fabrics to give their beautiful creations both heft and warmth. And the colors - OMG - the pinks and purples and blues and yellows and even some shades of orange, were glistening through the thin spots creating an incredible palette for all to behold.
And then there are the ones I like to call 'wall clouds' because of their heights and width - and they usually are the ones that forewarn you 'weather' is imminent and you might want to take cover if you don't want to get soaked. But usually, by the time I actually see them it's already too late and I generally end up drenched.
They all come and they all go and they change constantly which lends but one more facet to Mother Nature's incredible offerings but of all the different variations, I think my very favorites are the big puffy solid white ones - the ones that resemble cotton balls piled on top of each other - that occasionally dance their way across an otherwise brilliant blue sky and give you the opportunity to let your 'make believe mantra' run wild and see things you can only just imagine.
