Cloud Menagerie – Photo: L. Weikel

Cloud Menagerie

We were besieged by some wicked storms late this afternoon and early evening. I believe we were even under a tornado watch for several hours. For a variety of reasons, including the spectre of wild weather, Karl and I didn’t manage to take a walk today. So tonight I’m sharing a photograph I took on our walk yesterday, which I initially thought was simply (and obviously) a hummingbird. However, upon reflection, I realize it’s a veritable cloud menagerie.

Yet again, I’m fascinated by the abundance of playful figures I see dancing in the photo – that I did not see when I initially took the shot.

Quite frankly, when the cloud formation initially caught my eye as we walked along the dirt road lined by fields filled with wild flowers and incipient hay, it reminded me of a gigantic hummingbird. Thrusting Spartacus’s leash into Karl’s hand so I could quickly take the photo, I exclaimed to Karl, “Look at the hummingbird!” For the life of me, I couldn’t understand how he couldn’t see it, but as I put the phone to my face, he sounded bewildered. “Where? I don’t see it!”

It was only when I showed him the image on my phone that he let out a relieved, “Ooooh!”

“I thought you saw a hummingbird in the weeds by the side of the road or something and thought you could get a close-up!” he laughed.

We then proceeded to have a lively debate on whether the cloud looks like a hummingbird or a ‘dumb bird,’ as we somewhat irreverently refer to mourning doves. Quite honestly, even now I can’t decide which bird the clouds resemble more.

Other Beasts Too

What I find particularly cool, though, is how I see so much more in this photo now that I’m looking at it here at home. I know I’ve commented on this before, but I do find the regularity with which additional Beings appear in photographs both intriguing and charming.

In this photo, I see at least two other four-legged creatures cavorting in the sky quite near to our dovingbird. And while the one hovering to the right of the bird (from our perspective) does not sport a horn when observed directly, there’s something magical about the creature when you sort of look at it askance. I See a unicorn. And no, I don’t see any rainbows. Not in this photo, at least!

Gratitude

I’m so grateful for the Cloud Beings. Their presence in my life brings me joy in the most unexpected circumstances. They inspire me to expand my perception (wink) and allow myself to be nudged out of, let’s say, perhaps, a cranky mood that has me feeling totally cornered and in a box.

And other times, which I also revel in, my beloved Cloud Beings perfectly mirror the ominous onslaught of dark times or dire circumstances that threaten my inner landscape. I appreciate it when they reflect my moods. In fact, often when I’m feeling bleak and they seem to be enacting a call and response, they help me realize the treasures that can be found in the rippling or billowed opacity of the moment.

Enjoy our Dovingbird and its frolicking minions. I needed a smile when those clouds showed up; and they delivered. I’m grateful.

(T-449)