cloud names

 

We headed back up to Andes, NY a while back for a little fall vacation. It was as restorative as I expected it would be - hiking, campfires, the laziest days.  And the prettiest cloudscapes.  Having lived near the ocean a lot, particularly in Hawaii,  I've been fortunate to see some amazing clouds, but on this trip to the Catskills, the skies rivaled any I've seen before them.  

One morning we awoke to a lake of clouds in the valley below us.  We watched through massive windows, over the tops of warm cups, following along as they spiraled up and out.  Driving home they were so close to our car, I swear I could have touched them if I'd had a long enough stick.  I spent a long time thrust up into the dashboard.  Brian Eno soundtracked our view and lulled the girls to sleep.  Our car has never been so void of voices,  nor found it's passengers so collectively captivated.

As an eleven year old girl, I was nicknamed 'space queen' by a teacher, always staring out the windows.  It stuck, of course, as nicknames of that sort tend to do in a pack of kids.  I eventually embraced it. What else could I do?  It was true, after all - I couldn't take my eyes off the clouds.  Life busied itself well enough that I finally did.   Thankfully, I'm now often brought back by following the gazes of my children, up and out.


For those so inclined and inspired...


Kumo (Japanese)
Pilvi (Finnish)
Wolke (German)
Cloud (our version is the fairest)

Cirrus (seen here, article by)

Stratus
Haze
Billow

And simply for their likeness in sound, I will forever be a fan of:

Claude
Claudia
Claudine




images: taken with iPhone. © Kristen Gregg