Send in the Clouds: Color Photo Gallery

I am a cloud lover from as far back as I can remember. As a small child, I remember being terrified of storms, and running to my older sister Christine for comfort when lightning and thunder tormented me. She held me until those storms were passed, calming my scared little heart. The clouds were always the gift in the storms, either before or after, like a dream.

I don't remember when the fear subsided, perhaps it was in my teenage years in the northern suburbs of Chicago, when I began to enjoy lying on the ground and watching them move quickly. In Illinois, it seemed as though the clouds were billowy formations trying to spark my imagination as they contrasted the blue skies.

I learned to appreciate both the beauty of the storms, the intensity of the movement and power of God to produce what is adequate to sustain growth on our earth. I chuckle when I hear the words "Mother Nature", and think, we are her, when we choose to care for what God so generously provided.

I also developed a healthy fear of tornadoes, having spent endless hours in the basements of our homes until the warnings were passed. I only observed one brief touchdown on the day of my high school graduation, and my heart was pounding furiously. I vowed I would move someday when I was older, and 6 years later, I did just that.

When I relocated to California, I observed them coming in towards the coastlines, and changing the structure and colors of the spectacular sunsets. Honestly though, I never really noticed many clouds there, presumably because I was captivated by all that sunshine.

When I transitioned again for a year to Hilo, Hawaii, the clouds were ever present, with the added blessings of rainbows, complete full rainbows like I had never seen as often before. I was fortunate enough to live there and to experience the incredible beauty of the Big Island as a resident rather than a tourist, a rare privilege.

Now, in Colorado, the clouds accompany huge spontaneous storms usually in the afternoons over my home. Rainbows are once again a regular occurrence, sometimes in two and once even in a three-arched magnificent composition, that reminds me of God's promise after the flood.

The final touch on these clouds are the brilliant, multicolored displays during prolonged sunsets that linger and then present the night skies. Here I can see the stars fully, clearly, and even be mesmerized by the shooting stars and Milky Way.

It is a wonderful life in the clouds, providing a temporary diversion from all else in life, as they gather me into their movement, and bring awareness of nature's beauty and power.

I hope that you will enjoy this presentation and lose yourself in the moment as I so often do.