Cloudology. Say It Like You Have a Mouth Full of Marbles. It’s Funner That Way.

I often find myself saying, “Today I saw the most amazing sky.” That should denote the best of the best. Like I couldn’t see anything more beautiful. But, I swear I keep seeing an even more amazing sky day after day.



Cloud dove.

I have a fascination with the sky. With clouds in particular. I’m forever oohing and aahing at the sky or taking pictures if some formation catches my eye. Okay, that’s almost every day. To me, and to others (because I think I’ve heard it quoted this way), the sky is like a canvas. It’s a blank canvas that is forever changing…becoming a priceless piece of artwork that we can only fully take in with our eyes and our minds. And, even then, I don’t know how fully it is because there are times when I wish I could hold an image of it and put it into the core of my being forever.

Took this yesterday somewhere between MA and ME.



One of the things I love about the sky is when you add the rising or setting sun in it. With all the colors that are exuded then, mixed with the swaths of clouds, it’s almost more than one can take in at any one time. That must be where the term ‘breath-taking’ came from. My Sweet-Smelling Girlfriend has told me that one of the things she’ll miss when she dies are the sunrises. I’d have to agree with her and add the sunsets in there, too, because I tend to take as many evening walks on the beach as I can. Right now I live close to the ocean and life is too short not to enjoy the natural beauty around us.

  

Sometimes, the sky seems uniformly grey and without definition of clouds. I find that our moods are changed by what we find in the sky. How many people mope around on gloomy days? Lots. When the sky is all grey, we should try not to get down. Instead, we should look at it as a canvas covered with tinted gesso readying itself for another glorious day.

Cameras can capture pieces of the sky and help us to remember the beauty of the clouds and colors before us. But unless you can photograph it 360 degrees around you, it’s hard to see exactly what you can take in like you can with the human eye.

I was joking with my oldest one day about how I thought that I should be a cloudologist. One who studies clouds. I’m sure technically that would really fit under the heading of meteorologist, but cloudologist doesn’t cover all of the weather and it is so much more fun to say. Especially if you say it like Bill Murray’s character, Carl Spackler, in Caddyshack would. (Now, you want to go watch that movie again don’t you? It’s a classic. Trust me.)

Now, if I was really a cloudologist, I’d have to know the names of the clouds. I do have vague recollections in my head of words like cirrus and cumulus and cumulonimbus. I’m sure I could and should go brush up on the names of the many types that I think I once knew. And, with the internet, that’s even easier to do these days. I guess, though, that I’d put myself in the artist-cloudologist category. I appreciate the beauty of the clouds in the sky without having to define them.

I see them and enjoy them. I’m in awe of their beauty. I think of ways I can capture their images. And, when I do, what can I do with them? I don’t need to use my voice to label them; to know the individual names of what I see in the sky. I would use my voice, though, just to say ‘cloudology.’ Because it’s wicked fun to say. Especially like Carl.

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One Good Shot. One Darned Good Shot.

I’m a visual person. So, as many people know – I’m a picture taker. I love taking pictures. That should be love with a capital L, O, V and E. Whether it’s with my big digital Rebel or with my fairly old PowerShot (my religion is Canon as my friend Lasse taught me that they say in Denmark). Or, even if it’s taking pictures with my cell phone. It’s amazing that my little Droid has almost more mega pixels than my other two combined. I’m happy with the quality that they all produce though.

I like to think that I have a good eye for taking a picture and that they come out good because of my design background. Many people insist that it’s because of the camera. Both help. But, just taking a zillion pictures is apt to catch a good one. And with the beauty of digital, you don’t have to worry about “wasting” film. You just delete what you don’t want or what is blurry. I remember the days of SLRs and film. I used to buy rolls and rolls of film with 36 exposures. I’d be so much more careful though in what I shot because developing was downright expensive. I was usually thrilled if I got one good shot for every 3 rolls.

Nowadays, I just shoot away. Rarely does an event or weekend (especially with my girls) slip away without me having taken dozens of pictures. My girls are so good about the picture taking too. They know that if they pose and smile decently that the tortuous length of the photo shoots is lessened. My problem is that I think they are so darned beautiful that I just want to keep snapping pictures.

I’ve been known to go on an adventure such as a hike with a friend (Scarborough Mom and Pad Thai especially can confirm this) and literally take hundreds and hundreds more pictures than they did on the same trip. Yea, that’s just me.

A dear friend was simulating my cell phone picture taking recently to my Sweet-Smelling Girlfriend. Yes, obviously she has been a victim of numerous adventures with me and my photo shooting. I did have to laugh though because, well, she was right.

All these photos remind me of good times. I put my favorites up on my screensaver on my desktop and smile as they scroll through. I frame a few of my favorites or just print them out and hang them on the wall by my desk at work. I share them with family and I put them up on Facebook. I rejoice in the memories and feelings they bring up when I look at them.

Just last weekend, I snapped a shot that I just can’t stop looking at. It’s of me and my Sweet-Smelling Girlfriend on the beach. But, you don’t see the beach. You actually really only see a bit of my face with hers leaning into me. It’s more of the expression that is on each of our faces that makes the picture so wonderful. I’ve got a double-dimple, closed-mouth profile smile going on and she has the most intense look in her eyes – looking directly into the camera. Looking into my soul. And it’s not intense in a bad way, but intense as in being at home in my arms. It’s new love, but it’s comfortable love. It’s love without words. It’s a picture that makes taking thousands of pictures so worthwhile. It’s one of those pictures that doesn’t happen very often. It’s one good shot. One darned good shot.

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