Take care to not let "clouds" get "in" your "way" | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Rows and flows of angel hair ... And ice cream castles in the air ... And feather canyons ev'rywhere ... I've looked at clouds that way ... as is the first stanza of Joni Mitchell's classic "Both Sides Now." Last Sunday, August 11, 2013, the fantastic rearrangement of God's celestial "deck chairs" was a sight to behold, and more than worth the 40 minutes to take these photos, and the far longer time it took to "right" the images and create this post ... and yes, while I clicked, and stroked the appropriate spots of my computer, I heard the strains of Joni Mitchell, and fainter strains of Judy Collins.

    "Both Sides Now," released way back in 1969, is Joni's iconic reflection of one's reflective truth within ones's individual purposeful existence, while growing older in America, then and now.
Sunday, August 11, 2013, a frozen moment in time that will be remembered as an evening of the most unique assortment of clouds that I have witnessed in a long while. Looking to the southeast, there were cumulus and nimbus clouds above the horizon, cocked at an angle to deliver the sun's reflection: Above. On the horizon to the northwest, the sun was slipping beneath a bank of clouds. I do believe that cirrus clouds are joining the cumulus and the nimbus clouds in this panoramic moment: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage    Click on the image to expand.
    Whether it was Joni Mitchell's version in 1969, or Judy Collins's Grammy winning cover in that same year, or the Randy Scruggs's (Earl Scruggs's boy) arrangement in collaboration with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's album, Will the Circle be Unbroken, or Joni's more Jazz oriented version as she grew older; no longer able to hit those piercing high notes but with far greater control over the phrasing of these poetic words, I have always loved "Both Sides Now."

    Take a moment to absorb the esoteric words of this lovely song, and please enjoy the video if you are unfamiliar with this melodic work of art or just wish to refresh your memory of your youth, and this good music.

Both Sides Now

first stanza  •  Joni Mitchell, 1969
Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons ev'rywhere
I've looked at clouds that way
But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way
I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all
Thunderheads on the horizon, near and far, moisture in the sky aplenty. Here we look at a billowing cloud in the backdrop of this sailing ship along Washington's dockage: Above. And then we glance back again, 180 degrees, toward a thunder cloud building fast, full of water vapor growing heavier and heavier. Notice the underside of this thunderhead reflecting the sun's rays, even though the sun has now dipped beneath the bank of clouds along the opposite horizon, and still the light of that setting sun is reflected in the shimmering waters of the Pamlico River: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage    Click on the image to expand.
    Not unlike the Joni Mitchell's "ice cream castles in the air" and "feather canyons ev'rywhere" these clouds were like a natural, but most beautiful phenomenon - billowing higher, outrageous, yet familiar shapes erupting from the nimbus, the cumulus, back-curtained by the illuminating cirrus clouds behind and above.
And just as soon as I get use to the floating, ever-changing show in Washington's waterfront heavens a rainbow drops down from the clouds and it is simply magnificent, inspiring: Above. And across Washington's downtown turn-of-the-20th-century buildings, there exists separate strata energy developing: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage    Click on the image to expand.
    Quickly the evening darkens, the dying colors growricher in somber tone, and then the multi textural clouds gain what color that is brought forward from the sun drifting lower below that bank of thick nimbus clouds, stretching across the western horizon, and I realize my best choice is to click away, and observe the magnificence all around at a later appointed time.