Posts Tagged ‘clouds’
Sky Views
The sky has been treating us to a nice variety of cloud edges recently. Here are three I was able to capture that represent the range of views we get to enjoy while toiling away on our chores.
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According to the weather forecast, our blue skies are about to change to snow clouds. Cold and wet is a condition for which we move horses indoors to the shelter of the barn and their stalls. Thus begins the season of wood shavings added to the compost heaps, which significantly increases the volume of space occupied.
It’s also the season of plowing and shoveling snow, hauling firewood, and eventually, building igloos. Snakes disappear. Mosquitoes disappear. What’s not to love? In a couple of months, it will even be winter.
A very fitting season for Wintervale Ranch.
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Distant Thunder
We had plenty of warning last night that heavy weather was going to visit. The majority of thundering was happening well to our south for about an hour before it moved in and started dropping rain on us. The sun was just setting when the edge of the billowing tower of clouds became visible, giving them a foreboding glow.
It was a late night for me, as I crammed to get some manure management done before we head out of town for the weekend. It’s a job I have been neglecting for enough days that it was going to be a problem for our horse-sitter while we are gone if I didn’t do something before leaving.
And, we are leaving this afternoon. In fact, I am leaving from work. Our plan is to meet at the airport in Eden Prairie to fly to Barb and Mike’s lake place near Grand Rapids.
After completing my manure chores, I needed to haul some hay into the barn for the weekend. Then it was time to shower and pack. I struggle every night just figuring out what I will wear the next morning for work, and that got amplified last night by needing to also think through a weekend of possible needs.
Since we are flying four people in a small plane, the goal is to pack light.
It’s a great recipe for forgetting something, if you ask me.
I packed a swim suit, and my sunglasses, so I at least have the essentials if something else was overlooked.
Now we are just hoping there is no thunder happening along our flight path during the hours we hope to fly. If the weather isn’t friendly enough, we’ll simply drive up north instead. Which, in that case, would mean I could then haul up more than I need, like I usually tend to do.
Maybe I should toss all my heavy non-essential items in my car just in case. It usually turns out that if I bring extra stuff, I won’t have a need for it. The need only arises if I don’t bring something.
It’s like a law of physics or something. Probably a cousin of Murphy’s Law.
Wish us some flying luck! It’ll be pretty sweet if we are able to pull it off. Who wouldn’t want to cut the travel time to the lake in half?
Here’s hoping any thunder is REALLY distant during the appointed hours of our planned travel.
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Fiery Sky
The horses were heavily harassed by biting flies yesterday, which made my session of scooping manure a lively affair. The biggest hazard, beyond unpredictable flailing hooves as they fling a leg out in response to a bite, is the nasty snap of their tails. They could take an eye out with that whipping action. At the very least, it stings when they get you.
I’ve noticed they will frequently align themselves to purposely have their heads in the wash of someone else’s tail for added fly management. There is no doubt they are thicker skinned than we are. I wouldn’t be able to endure the beating.
I worked well past the dinner hour last night, after a full shift at the day-job, to create added open space in the compost area for my approaching week-long absence from home. The effort now should pay off when I return, so I won’t come home to a disaster of overflowing piles.
Manure management is one of those jobs that is made easy by frequent attention. Let it go for a day or two between scooping and it can become an exponentially more significant project.
Last night, I opened up a gate to a section of pasture that still has long grass, to allow the herd a brief session of grazing. The first thing three of them did was pee. The second thing they took turns doing was laying down and rolling around.
When I looked their direction to see they finally got around to seriously grazing, the setting sun was illuminating the clouds to create the impression of a great conflagration. Photo Op!
One last day at the day-job today before vacation. I hope to try mowing the yard tonight and maybe doing a little laundry so I can pack clean clothes for the bike trip.
If I pack warm clothes and rain gear, maybe I won’t need them. We all know that if I don’t pack those things, it would guarantee that the week would turn out cold and wet.
If we see fiery clouds in the evenings during the bike trip, I hope it will mean, “sailor’s delight.”
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Cyndie’s Capture
She was simply taking the dog for a walk between evening rain showers. It just so happened to be at the perfect window of time when the sun was moving below the horizon. The scene changed dramatically over the brief 10-minutes they were out, and the cloud show morphed significantly in perfect coordination with the low sunlight blazing behind it.
I picked this one from the series of many she took.
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A short time later, as darkness settled in, the heavy roar of a downpour rumbled across our roof. It added an extra exclamation point to the exceptional serendipity of the timing of her evening’s stroll last night.
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Cloudy Skies
The weather did not cooperate with our desires to see the predicted spectacle of the Perseid meteor shower outburst Thursday and Friday nights. Cyndie held a workshop over the last two days that had been intentionally timed to coincide with the opportunity.
Our views were blocked by cloudy skies both nights.
The good news about that outcome is that I got to sleep through the wee hours of the mornings, instead of being outside star gazing or watching the NASA live stream broadcast of the events.
Workshop participants still had plenty of opportunities to enjoy all that Wintervale provides. Thursday evening was beautiful for their walk in the labyrinth. The sky looked threatening on Friday during exercises with the horses, but those sessions were completed before raindrops started to fall. That timed well for the final indoor expressive arts integration projects.
In my role as staff photographer, I showed up at the round pen when they were learning with Legacy. He was being very attentive to the preparations of this exercise.
I particularly enjoyed seeing how differently he responds to each individual who interacts with him. Part of me tends to assume the horses are just responding to a routine to which they are familiar, and that may be true to a degree, but the specifics are definitely unique.
That is the reason the exercises work the way they do, and why the horses provide these amazing opportunities for us to experience valuable insights.
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Legacy was definitely present in this moment.
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Ponder This
Time changes everything. Time has a tendency of changing my memories. I’ve been told that each time I remember something, the memory morphs a little bit.
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When I mentally visualize plans for the future, the conjured perceptions in my mind have the same “look” to me as when I am revisiting my memories.
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What if, in the present moment, I imagine a future occasion where I re-experience something I remember from the past?
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Feelings
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I cannot think
of another way
to say out loud
what I mean to convey
words can’t match
my feelings today
so I sit on my hands
and just look away
up to the clouds
that look as if they
know more than me
with their casual display
of colors and shapes
in an epic array
which leads me to think
you don’t need me to say
what is already obvious
and everything’s okay
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Sky Show
Cyndie and Delilah were down in the paddock with the horses last night and the sun was getting close to our horizon. I finished what I was doing and headed out to find them. It didn’t surprise me to find the sky taking on a strange hue, because the night before, our sunset was quite a sight through the plume of smoke passing over us from Canadian forest fires. I figured it was happening again.
Then I saw a streak of lightning in the distance. There was a bit of a straight-line rain”bow” appearing on the far side of some rain clouds stretched to the ground by the precipitation in the distance. We stood among the horses and watched nature’s grandeur for a good half-hour.
I did my best to capture a panoramic view with my phone. In truth, you really had to be there to experience how impressive it was, but this will give you a rough idea. Imagine the rest if you can.
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Cloud Views
We enjoyed another beautiful sky in the early evening yesterday, as storms were forming to our south and east. This time I had my rugged camera with me, and I tried some shots, even though they don’t come close to capturing the grandeur of what the naked eye was able to perceive.
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Relative Something 