CUMULONIBUS!!!

I've picked up a new book recently called "The Cloudspotter's Guide" which I am really enjoying. It has a lot of technical information about different kinds of clouds and the weather associated with them. This is cleverly mixed with good stories, wit and and a touch of myth. So far, I recommend it! I can't wait to test out my cloud knowledge. I think I'll plan a picnic with some friends. We can lie on the earth, look out onto the layers of clouds and into the space beyond and eat sanwhiches!

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( Speaking of which, some night I'd like to lie awake all night in the grass and really feel aware of traveling away from the sun and back again. The dark side of the earth, facing out into the void and aware of my own travels through the (false) swirling of the stars. It's times like that when you really know gravity, that the whole of the earth and everything in it is holding you. Mass is a curious thing. If anyone wants to join me, let me know! (Then it won't be so scary out alone in the night. We can drink coffees and make veggie smores.) Then again, I'm off on a tanget forgetting about clouds. )

There most romantic story I have read so far is about "The Meghaduta" or "cloud messenger", a sanskit poem witten between 50BC and Ad400 by the poet Kalidasa. A demi god, 'Yaksha' is cursed by the Hindu god of wealth, Kubera. He is banished to the Vindhya mountains, where he must wander aimlessly for a year. All he can do is pine for his wife, unable to communicate with her and lovesick he counts the months until he may return to her. On the eight month of his exile he finds a Cumulonibus cloud clinging to a mountain peak. He knew this to be a sign of the monsoon season, a time when traveling men returned to their wives and he begged the cloud to bring a message to his beloved. He gave the cloud directions and pointed out the rivers it could drink from and mountain ranges where it could rest.

The cloud goes on it's way, showering temples and crackling with lightning. It find his lover exausted from weeping and rouses her with a cool breeze. It consoles her with with low thunder and tells her not to give up waiting, for her husband has been banished and will return to her when he is released from the curse.