My Clouds

You might have noticed the picture of clouds on my page, here. Did that seem odd? Well, you haven't heard anything yet.

Yes, I have a fascination with clouds. Specifically it is the Cumulus type that will hold me transfixed. Cumulus can be remembered as "puffy" to distinguish from the other two types of clouds, Stratus("stretches across and feathery") and Nimbus("storm clouds"). Although there seems to be an argument about just how many cloud types there are, the most common type is the Cumulus cloud. Generally it is the one that grows vertically in the sky, reaching up to heights in excess of 39,000 feet releasing incredible amounts of energy through the condensation of water vapor within the cloud itself. Although the Nimbus is the "storm" cloud, Cumulus can also dictate bad weather. When the puffy clouds begin growing to excessive heights and there is a darker horizon, seemingly behind them that is when they are called cumulonimbus clouds, associated with powerful thunderstorms known as super cells. This might be my favorite version of them. It is very poetic if you think about it. There is this soft-looking, white, innocent cloud in all its glory yet harboring just beyond it a terrific storm. These are also called thunderclouds. In North Carolina, I like to call them "our relief". Oftentimes, they are a welcome sight, especially in the midst of one of our dry summers.

Now that I have fed the science geeks let me tell you that none of this much matters to me. What happens when I see these particular clouds is an uncontrollable sense of warmth. It takes me back to the beginning, where a personal myth of mine was created and has yet to be proven wrong:

My childhood was turbulent at best. I won't go on and on about that because I am not alone in this statistically. Suffice it to say there were lots of moments alone when all I did was talk to God, praying for guidance or solace…anything to ease my fears. More often than not, I would seek this comfort with nature as my medium. We almost always lived near woods and I would get lost there in thought. It was almost like magic that every time I sought out "help" my Cumulus clouds were there. However, in my childish mind, they were God's couches. I just knew that He was there, sitting on them, smiling at me, offering me warmth, guidance and a reassuring energy. It never failed! I ran outside my home and looked up to see those big, puffy clouds illuminated with the sun behind them. I truly believed He put them there for me! I was absolutely convinced that this was God's way of telling me, "I'm here, you are going to be okay"…EVERY time!

Fast forward, too many years for me to own up to and I still am charmed by this sight. Do I still believe that it is proof that God is there? Ehhh, I'm not so sure but neither am I convinced that it is not true. Truthfully, it doesn't matter because they are still the sight that has the power to calm me…to remind me that there is so much more than this one silly moment…to release any stress from my mind with an audible sigh.

Now you know that I am not trying to capture you or your car's license plate number when you see my cell phone out the window aimed upwards; nor have I slipped into some suicidal state of unaware when gazing upwards through my sun roof; Nope it is just me indulging my cloud fetish and perhaps being a reckless driver haha

So tell me what is it that has power over you? Is there anything that you can touch, taste or see that has the ability to change your state of mind instantly? Leave the comment below and lets open our minds up together.