Nancy Somerville, Hon. ASLA, shares this shot, which has a lovely kind of melancholy about it. The one boat, the empty raft, the still water against an agitated sky. It again accents the land as a constant by showing the sky as motion.

It’s cool how clouds can actually help define the land. This image, from ASLA President Gary Scott, FASLA, suggests the long, flat vistas of his native Iowa, though I have no idea if it is, in fact, Iowa. I love the perspective that the clouds accent.  It reminds me of a painting by Milton Avery that I just saw at the Art Institute of Chicago, though of water. It was enormous, and the dashes of paint in this example (can’t find the painting anywhere) are diminishing rounded rectangles of white suggesting light on the sea.

From on High

It’s one thing to look up at clouds, another to be among them. Glen Schmidt, FASLA, a member of my PR & Communications Advisory Committee , took these spectacular images while flying from Taiwan to Los Angeles. They induce a kind of trance, really, a spell. Be sure to click on them to enlarge. Almost enough to cure me of my fear of flying.

Lake George Skies

It’s been a week since it happened, and my week of leisure in Lake George is evaporating. I’m holding onto the vestiges of it, though, and my clouds help. I could watch these all day. In fact, I did.  

Remember Those Beautifully Named Clouds?

“Noctilucent,” they’re called. Seems we are having one heck of a global season of them, and they are thrilling people all over the globe. Cousin John sent me the above image (again by Marek Mikodem in Szubin, Poland), which led me to the one below as well. Stunning. Difficult to see where the earth ends and sky begins. Take some time to explore for yourself at http://spaceweather.com/nlcs/gallery2009_page13.htm?PHPSESSID=a2t6r29o592jm2tcqm5jbv4lt7.

Remember to Look

As I walked through the cavernous space that is Metro Center in D.C., having just disembarked from the Red Line to transfer to the Orange, the loudspeakers were blaring a longer, more detailed message than usual, but it was, as usual, unintelligible. Something about the Red Line, Takoma Park, Fort Totten. I wondered what all the noise was about. I am in the habit of riding in the first car because chances are better to find a seat there. Recently, it had also crossed my mind that it was the car that would take the brunt of any collision. When the commute at last ended,  I turned on the radio in my car, I heard the news. Seven people dead in a horrendous crash on the Red Line (though nowhere near my usual paths). The sky was particularly lovely that evening, so I took this picture for no other reason than because I could.
 

Disturbing Images

Try as I might, I have not been able to get flight 447 out of my mind, weeks after it crashed. I keep seeing the jet piercing a mountainous storm cloud that basically tears it apart, leaving people to fall 35,000 feet into the sea, some apparently free of the jet itself. It makes my head spin just to think of it. I was reminded of it in an odd ways when I went to see Up!, which I enjoyed immensely. Our heroes also enter a storm cloud, to a happier outcome.

You’ve Got to Love This

From my ever watchful cousin John (again)…the above image photographed in Poland by Marek Nicodem in 2008 gives you an idea of what they are talking about. By all means, visit the others.

“Space Weather News for May 30, 2009
http://spaceweather.com

‘FIRST NLCs of 2009: The first noctilucent clouds (NLCs) of 2009 have been sighted over northern Europe. Last night, May 29th, photographers recorded wispy electric-blue tendrils spreading across the twilight skies of Denmark, Northern Ireland and Scotland. This follows a similar display over Russia on May 27th. These sightings signal the beginning of the 2009 NLC season, which is expected to last until late July. Early-season NLCs are usually feeble, but these were fairly bright and vibrant, suggesting that even better displays are in the offing. Check today’s edition of http://spaceweather.com for photos.

“Noctilucent clouds are an unsolved puzzle. They float 83 km above Earth’s surface at the edge of space itself. People first noticed NLCs in the late 19th century. In those days you had to travel to high northern latitudes to see them. In recent years, however, the clouds have been sighted in the United States as far south as Oregon, Washington and even Colorado. Climate change, space dust, and rocket launches have all been cited as possible explanations for the phenomenon. Interestingly, low solar activity seems to promote the clouds, so the ongoing deep solar minimum could set the stage for a good season in 2009.

“The best time to look for NLCs is just after sunset or just before sunrise when the sun is between 6 and 16 degrees below the horizon. That’s when the geometry is just right for sunlight to illuminate the tiny ice crystals that make up the clouds. Observing tips and sample photos may be found in the 2008 Noctilucent Cloud Gallery:

http://spaceweather.com/nlcs/gallery2008_page10.htm

“Readers, if you enjoy these newsletters and wish to support our efforts, please consider signing up for Spaceweather.com’s astronomy alert service: http://spaceweatherphone.com . Thanks!”

From McSweeney’s

An odd little story that appealed to me by Joe Meno, “People Are Becoming Clouds,” McSweeney’s # 18:

“People are becoming clouds these days. Each time John goes to kiss his wife, Madeline simply laughs politely into the palm of her hand and immediately turns into a puff of soft, white vapor. The vapor is odorless and can assume sizes and shapes. It can still understand when it is being spoken to, the vapor. It can understand whenever John begins wordlessly crying. One time, while holding hands at the airport, John, without thinking, kissed Madeline’s soft cheek and immediately she turned into a puff of charming whiteness that resembled a pony leaping over a fencepost. It seemed that the pony was neighing from the way its long neck was stretched and raised.”

Lost in Color

My cousin John sent me this, and I envy the person who took it.  He is Chris Balch, a learning specialist at Souhegan High School.  He was camped “on Kirby Peak on the Wapack trail outside of Temple,” though I’m not sure what that means. But to approach night like this surely must be magic of some sort. I am not a camper so must rely on my imagination to conjure up the experience. I smell pine. No wind per se, but a falling cool. A growing quiet as the birds chatter dissipates.

Better yet, I’ll send this to him to describe it for me.