Tag Archives: clouds

Disappointment Followed by “Ah Ha!”

Devil’s Tower
Devil’s Tower National Monument, Wyoming

On my recent trip to the Badlands, I took a several hour detour to see Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. I drove into the park and was disappointed when I encountered a stopped line of traffic. After what seemed to be an eternity, I slowly moved around a corner and saw a sign, “One Hour to Parking Lot”. I grumbled and turned around and started driving back to the park entrance. After a bit, I broke out into the open from the tree lined road. I looked up and saw this sight. Ah ha!!! It was worth the drive.

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Another Heatherwood Winter Sunrise

“Lenticular Sunrise”
Heatherwood Winter

Winter is the season for amazing sunrises over Eastern Washington. Winter is the time when we have many cloud covered skies. This one with a lenticular cloud formation hanging above the tree grove silhouette was spectacular this morning. It triggered my imagination to visualize a large spaceship looking for a place to land. It was an exciting way to start the day!

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Reflecting Back

“Clouds and Rocks”
Joshua Tree National Park, CA

Reflecting back, just a week ago we were in the Joshua Tree National Park in the Mohave Desert. It was a warm beautiful day in the high 80’s. It was a great vacation.

When I saw this scene, I thought it looked like smoke was coming out of the rocks above us. It reminded me of the days when I was a boy, laying in the grass at the ranch, looking up at the sky, and imagining stories that the clouds above were portraying. Many summer days were spent dreaming. I still find myself dreaming as the clouds move across the sky. I wonder what the rocks were trying to communicate with their smoke signals.

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Contradiction

“Thank You!”
The Palouse, Washington

Contradiction

Sun-fired billows top a melancholy base of grays and dull pinks.
Cool spring green alternates with curves and shadows.
One scene; infinite possibilities.

Mary Dahlin Graf

What a great way to end a wonderful day. The sun was on the horizon setting the clouds on fire. We gazed up and shouted “Thank You!” in unison.

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Tracking Clouds … A Great Way to Pass the Time

“Lone Trees & Clouds”
The Palouse, Washington

I have many wonderful memories of my childhood growing up at the “Ranch.” Many times I spent what seemed like hours, laying on the lawn, gazing up at the clouds, watching them move across the sky changing shapes. Some things never change. On my recent trip to the Palouse, I saw these two trees out in the middle of endless hills of green fields. The bright blue sky was filled with puffy white clouds. I stopped and watched the clouds move across the sky casting shadows on the green hills. An hour went by like a flash as I watched and waited for the shadow patterns in the background to frame the tree while not shading the tree itself or the area in front of it. What a great way to spend a peaceful early afternoon in a beautiful part of our state.

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Clouds, Trees, and a Fence

Neighbor’s Pasture
Heatherwood Spring

The clouds make this infrared image of our neighbor’s pasture. We “borrow” this scene for our lower Heatherwood garden. We are surrounded on three sides (N,E, and W) by hills and look over a valley to the south. In the design of Heatherwood, we have opened up and framed vistas of the surrounding countryside. There is always something interesting to explore with our eyes and imagination.

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Spirit Clouds

“Emerging Spirits”
The Palouse, SE Washington

What a wonderful gift was given to me while meandering along some back roads north of Walla Walla in the Palouse. Layers of clouds were moving above. It was breezy and fairly dark. It felt like a storm was about to come in. I had an eerie feeling around me. My partner stayed in the car while I ventured out.

I took a long exposure to capture the movement of the clouds. I looked at my image and got excited as I saw rays emerging from the barn almost fighting with the clouds moving across the image. Two different air streams were layered on top of each other. One set of clouds was moving easterly while the other was moving south easterly toward me.

It is time for me to go to the Palouse to wander again. The rolling hills, old homesteads and clouds are calling. Hopefully some local travel will be possible in the relative near future.

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Ridges Into the Sea

Pololu Valley Lookout (2020)
The Big Island, Hawai’i

The last time I was here I hiked down to the base of these cliffs and looked up the Palolu Valley to the south. Waipi’o Valley is in the distance. This trip I did not make the trek down to the bottom.

On previous trips, my interest focused on the bay directly below and closer. The above ridges were in the distant background. This time the ridges caught my eye. I zoomed out to 400m to isolate them.

For reference, the photo below represents my previous focus.

Pololu Valley Lookout (2017)

As seen, this is quite a different perspective. It pays to return to special places and keep an open mind to see new things.

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Mid-Day Shadows

Bullfrog Road Near Capitol Reef

On my last day at Capitol Reef I decided to just drive around and scout some of the areas for a future trip. It was mid-day when I saw some interesting shadows on these rock protrusions. The scene looked pretty flat in color. My mind turned black and white. I like clouds and shadows. Here were both.

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