My photographer friend Linda announced t'other day that she wanted to go out to take pictures of the clouds, which that day reminded her of the "clouds over the Everglades."
There are no Everglades by my place--no gators, no tall birds--although the big Metro parking lot seems to have an underground spring that keeps cracking the pavement on the down slope in one place. It's always at least damp there, no matter how often the grounds crew patches it.
We did have lovely clouds last night, though. I snapped this picture with my BlackBerry camera on the way home. Not 10 minutes after I got in the door, the first crack of thunder sounded, and it grew very dark as more big thunderheads moved in. There wasn't even time for me to put away my groceries and go outside for more photos before the clouds burst, and we had a real downpour.
P.S. About the dogwood tree....I bought a tree book that arrived two days ago. It wasn't the compendium I thought it would be, but it did enlighten me about the dogwood "flowers." The four white "petals" are really bracts--special leaves, not flower petals at all. The actual flower is the little round thing in the middle. The white bracts make a convenient, well-marked landing spot for insects looking for pollen in the flower itself. Never to old to learn something new! Notice how well the rain soaked everything last night. There are still drops of water on the leaves.
I love clouds too. A Mexican kid at one of the schools I worked at said, "The sky is like a box of secrets. You can learn a lot by looking there." The moon in all her phases, stars, planets, the light changing colors all day long, And clouds, of course. Sad to know that when they paved over that parking lot, they covered a spring or a stream. I was sad to see the remnants of a marsh at the edge of a big shopping center in Bennington a couple of nights ago, thinking of all the birds that live in that marsh grass. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteOvenbird: I doubt they paved over a stream or (knowingly) a spring. When I lived in Mt Rainier, MD, which is a few miles east of here--and right on the DC/MD border--the whole town has the unusual geographic feature of having many underground springs. That land used to be orchards. Now, lots of the houses have no basement at all, or if they do, have water in it constantly. The place next door, which was for sale, had something like 4' of water in the basement. A nice young guy bought it, pumped out the water, no big deal. I was surprised to see evidence of an underground spring this far west, but it's apparently something that goes with the territory.
ReplyDeleteThere is plenty here for birds of all kinds. Rock Creek is not far from here, and that's a wooded sanctuary with a vigorous stream running all year round.
Thanks for visiting!
P.S. I haven't seen an ovenbird since I left the Midwest! I can't identify birds too well other than crows now.
ReplyDeleteOne would think that about the 2nd time the parking area had to be repaired they would have talked to an engineer who could have designed a "weep" system to keep the hydrostatic/hydraulic pressure from building up.
ReplyDeleteCop Car
CC: Well, maybe they did...it just sort of weeps away out there. *:0) I'll take a picture....
DeleteClouds are always fascinating, changing shapes, moving across the sky, especially when storms are building.
DeleteXE--You are probably correct. Besides, one probably need not be an engineer to design the system - just have a bit of savvy! CC
DeleteLovely picture!
ReplyDeleteDid my cloud appreciation get through? I was doing okay with google profile but now there's a push to add mobile phone. sigh.
ReplyDeletePlease send some of that rain this way.
ReplyDeleteI loved cloud watching in Oklahoma. You could see the weather systems building up and knew just where they were headed. Now that I am on Cape Cod I watch the clouds but don't yet have the knack of knowing what they are telling me. I lack even the ability to know if I'll need an umbrella before dark, and mainland weather reports are ALWAYS wrong for the Cape. I hope in time to be able to read them again.
ReplyDeleteNDB: Did your cloud appreciation get through what? Google circles? I have taken a firm NO APP stance of late. but thank you for sending your positive thoughts, wherever they've landed.
ReplyDeleteDarlene: You want some of your 12" of annual rainfall now? How do you want that? an inch a month? or 3 inches per quarter?
Ellen: I know exactly what you mean. It took me a long time to figure out the clouds on the east coast, but happily, the clouds in DC speak the same language they do in the upper midwest. The challenge, living in the city, is to LOOK at them and pay attention. A hint for you: find out where your weather is coming from. It doesn't seem to come off the land to the west of the Cape. And there are mountains in there, too. Does the Farmers Almanac have any clues?? or the marine forecast??
Joared: I adore looking at the clouds. They're constantly changing beauty. And they bring rain! I love rain, too.
ReplyDeleteSally: Thanks, honey.
Gorgeous clouds -- your Blackberry camera takes really good pictures!
ReplyDelete