One of my absolute favorite things is the interplay between clouds, their shadows, & the way those shadows dance across fields, hills, & mountains. There’s a unique beauty to that capturing of wind sweeping across the landscape, evidenced by the canopy in the sky above & the patches that it creates–moving in fluid patterns. That movement seems so joyous & light, carefree & wild, never tamed. As an air sign (Libra) & introvert, wind makes me truly happy–breezes, gales, siroccos, gusts, zephyrs, mistrals, & trade winds. There are so many names for wind & clouds, & I’ve always been fascinated by both. Wind seems like an unstoppable force, & there’s something exciting about that, dangerous even, yet beautiful.

Growing up in New England, I grew accustomed to a certain kind of view, mainly visible from mountaintops I hiked or elevations when driving (like the image directly below)–clouds sweeping over forests & blue ridges & even lakes.

When I traveled to England proper, a new kind of view emerged of clouds & their shadows (like the image directly above), where clouds moved over verdant & ocher fields stitched together by seams of trees–a patchwork quilt of grains, grasses, trees, & shrubbery.

Maybe that’s why I enjoy going on trips by car or train? You have this ability to see large expanses of land (depending on where you are, of course) which offer these panoramas of rolling green dappled by the clouds blocking the sun’s rays. More exciting is when those shadows create a flickering landscape, kaleidoscopic in the colors illuminated & then cast back into darkness. When traveling to Gstaad from Vevey in Switzerland, the Alps provided these kinds of displays, yet with jade-colored glacial lakes peaking out from the valleys passed (like the image below). And when in Gstaad, the valley displayed the sky’s same kind of glorious cloud dance over green hills & magnificent peaks.

Now, in Utah, I frequently observe these kinds of view, widely varying in landscape due to the state’s unique & distinct features. You can easily see the different types of views in the number of blog posts I’ve recently shared, based on travels to Zion, Antelope State Park, Park City, the Great Salt Flats, & other scenic drives. In September, I’ll be visiting Wyoming with family to see Yellowstone National Park, which will provide additional breathtaking sights & promontories. There’s just so much beauty in the world, & when I see a day of perfect weather–those rolling big cotton clouds with magical breezes moving them along–I just have to make chase to capture pictures of the landscapes below.

It’s just a thing with me. I’m obsessed.

Even big storm clouds bring so much drama to the sky & land below, as seen in the images above. Maybe it’s like I wrote in one of my earliest blog posts–perhaps this started with my fascination with clouds in our “C” volume of Encyclopaedia Britannica, a huge brown leather-bound book with gilt edges & emblazoned with the famous crest on the cover & binding. I’d spent hours memorizing the cloud types, but culumus and cumulonimbus were always my favorites. They were the most dramatic.

Yet, any cloud cover could do the trick with the right light & setting below.

And, so, I leave you with some lovely images of clouds playing on the mountains, with the final image one taken today from my work, from the window in & outside of my office.