This, That, and the Other

I don’t know why I had so much trouble with this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt from Linda G. Hill. The instructions seemed relatively straight forward. “Write about, or theme your post on, the first picture you see when you sit down to start writing. You don’t need to describe the picture necessarily — you can even put yourself in it if you’re not already there.”

So should I look at the newspaper or a magazine first thing after I wake up, find a picture, and clip it into this post? Should I write a bit of flash fiction around a picture? After all, as Rod Stewart sang, every picture tells a story.

But then I had this brilliant idea to Google “interesting pictures.” You know what? There are a lot of interesting pictures on the internet. Who knew?

Anyway, perhaps the most interesting picture I saw was this one of a remarkable cloud formation somewhere over New Zealand.

This type of cloud formation is called “undulatus asperatus.” It is formed when there’s rising air that creates a wide-spread cloud cover, together with wind shear that blows across the rising air. This can set up gravity waves, where air moves up and down as buoyancy and gravity battle it out, creating long rippling waves that carry the clouds up and down.

While the undulatus asperatus clouds in the picture appear somewhat menacing, storms seldom follow their dissipation.

This particular photograph, which came from NASA, generated a weird amount of online notoriety because it was featured in several conspiracy-oriented websites that claimed it was evidence of government manipulation of the weather.

Damn chemtrails.