clouds

Friday Fictioneers — Paint What You See

Fandango11 Comments

“Dennis,” the art teacher said, “you know that the purpose for bringing the class here to this scenic spot was for the students to paint photorealistic scenes of clouds over the water.”

“I know, Mrs. Briggs,” Dennis said.

“Then why have you painted cartoon animals, instead of clouds?” Mrs. Briggs asked sternly.

“You said that we should paint what we see,” Dennis said. “I see a walrus, an elephant standing on its hind legs, a mouse….”

“What is that?” Mrs. Briggs interrupted, pointing to a bright white cloud in the center of his canvas.

“That’s George Washington,” he said, beaming.

(100 words)

Written for Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ Friday Fictioneers prompt. Photo credit: Bradley Harris.

SoCS — Colors of the Sky

Fandango27 Comments

When I saw that Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt asked us to use “color” as a noun, a verb, or to pick a color and write about it, I decided to post a few photos I took to show the colors of the sky around my home on different days and at different times.

And I’m going to try to use the newly introduced “carousel” feature to display the photos. Are you ready? Wish me luck.

  • Full moon at dusk last night tinted yellowy-orange due to smoke from wildfires
  • Another moon shot from last night
  • Wispy clouds
  • Early morning sunrise
  • Sunset
  • Foggy skies
  • Storm clouds at sunset
  • Clouds and blue skies
  • From September 2020 at 9:30 in the morning. The sky is eerily dark and orange from nearby wildfires

All photos taken with my iPhone 12 Pro Max. Click on individual photos to enlarge and swipe right or left to move between photos.

MLMM Photo Challenge — Clouds in the Shower

Fandango15 Comments

“I don’t feel a thing,” Alyse said. “I thought you said this was the good stuff.”

Michael gave Alyse a questioning look. “Seriously, you don’t feel anything yet? I’m totally wasted.”

“Well maybe I’m just not in the mood,” Alyse said. “I’m tired. I’m going to go take a shower and go to bed. Have a good time sitting here by yourself watching National Geographic.”

Alyse walked into their bathroom, took off her clothes, and, after making sure the water temperature was to her liking, stepped into the shower. As she was soaping herself up, she was looking at the impression her soapy hand made on the glass shower wall. She was mesmerized, unable to look away. To Alyse, it was as if she was lying out in a field of grass, looking up at the clouds against a deep blue sky, and watching with fascination as the light breezes changed the clouds’ shapes, just as the soap bubble on the shower wall, were slowly forming and changing shapes.

“Michael, come quick!” Alyse called out.

Hearing her calling him, Michael ran into the bathroom. “Alyse, are you okay? Did something happen?”

Alyse was singing a slightly off-key rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” standing in the shower with her hand rubbing the shower wall glass. “Look, Michael,” she said, “look at the clouds floating by.”

Michael starting laughing. “So are you still going to tell me again how you don’t feel anything yet?”

Written for the Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Photo Challenge. Photo credit: Marta Bevacqua

RDP — Venation

Fandango23 Comments

I saw that today’s Ragtag Daily Prompt word is “venation.” Having never heard of that word, I had to look it up. It is defined as “the arrangement of veins, as in a leaf or in the wing of an insect.” Who knew?

Okay, so after learning what “venation” means, the task at hand was to incorporate a word I’d never heard of before and had certainly never used before into a post. And for those reasons, my initial inclination was to take a pass on using that word.

Then, this morning, I went into my backyard to have a cup of coffee and I looked up and saw this in the sky…

And I thought, Hey, those clouds up there are showing some really interesting venation.

Well, I don’t know if those clouds resemble the veins of a leaf or an insect’s wings, but close enough. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

Animal Clouds

Fandango16 Comments

“That one looks like a giant dragon,” Peter said, pointing to the cloud almost directly overhead. He then passed the joint to Rachel, who was lying next to him on the blanket.

Rachel took a deep hit and sighed. “Life is so random,” she said. “I abhor life’s randomness.”

“Sheesh, Rachel,” Peter said, “you always become ascetic when you’re stoned out of your gourd.”

“I most certainly am not ascetic,” Rachel objected. “Contemplative, maybe. Pensive perhaps. But I certainly don’t practice self-denial.” She smiled and took another hit off the joint and handed it back to Peter.

“You say you abhor randomness, but when we met at that Kamala Harris campaign rally last year, don’t you think that was rather random?” Peter asked.

Rachel laughed. “That wasn’t random,” she said. “It was serendipitous.”

“They’re the same thing,” Peter said.

“Well, that depends on your definitions,” Rachel said. “I define serendipitous as an unsought, unintended, or unexpected occurrence, but one with a fortunate, or happy outcome. Random is just arbitrary.”

“So you consider our meeting to be a fortunate occurrence with a happy outcome?” Peter said with a broad smile on his face.

Rachel blushed and pointed to a cloud in the sky. “Look, Peter, that one looks like a lion.”

Written for these daily prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (random), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (abhor), Your Daily Word Prompt (ascetic), The Daily Spur (campaign), and MMA Storytime (depend).