Cloudy Vision

The experts say the first step in overcoming a problem is admitting it.  I feel it's time I admit that I am completely obsessed with clouds.  

We've been having another hot and humid weather system, and I've not been up to battling the heat or headaches to get out and take pictures.  I hate that.  But, as I drove hither and yon, here to there and back again, I noticed that for the last week or so, we've had a LOT more clouds than normal, and they've been awfully pretty.

I had planned to go out a little earlier to visit Mom today since I knew it was going to be another scorcher, so on the off chance the weather wasn't too oppressive when I left her place, I put the camera in the trunk and off I drove.

I probably shouldn't admit this, but I missed my turn to the street Mom lives on because I was checking out the clouds and didn't realize I was there already.  I may need an intervention.

All of the photos above were taken from the very posh and elegant location known to the locals as the Friendship Village parking lot.  The remaining photos were all taken from the very posh and elegant location known to the locals as the Huber Heights Target parking lot.  Maybe I need a parking lot intervention, too . . .

One of my "issues" in taking pictures of the clouds is that I usually see shots I want while I'm driving.  Part of that is because there are fewer wires ruining the view, but also because there's a larger panorama to view.  Stopping in a parking lot sometimes allows for the larger view point as well as the lack of phone/cable/electrical wires.  In my case, the locations were also relatively close to the highway, and more likely to afford the views I'd been watching while driving.

I don't know if any of the Target shoppers noticed me in the back corner of the parking lot, but I hope not.  I'm sure if they did they thought I was bonkers - what the heck could I be taking pictures of?  There's nothing interesting out there; it's a parking lot, for Pete's sake!  I prefer to believe they were so focused on getting out of the heat (either into the store or getting the car started so the A/C would work) that they never knew I was there.

But what's so spectacular about the clouds that I'm constantly checking them out?  Part of it is the contrast between the white of the clouds and the blue of the sky; other times it's the contrast of light and shadow on the same cloud.

Sometimes it's a dark cloud next to a cloud so brightly white it seems to glow that captivates me.  Other times, it's a whole palette of subtle shades and colors blending and merging together as the cloud dances past.

Sometimes it looks like an artist has been trying to carve the clouds, but finds them difficult to work with and puts it aside for the time being.

Sometimes I just look up in awe at the expanse of the sky and the ethereal beauty before me, completely at a loss for words.