Sideways Plus #5 +WATER+

Here is installment number 5 for A Sideways Look at Clouds--an excerpt and supplemental content for each chapter of my book you to enjoy. Click these links to  the first four: Prologue /Cloud /Visible / Mass

Each chapter of my book covers one term in the definition of a cloud: a visible mass of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the earth. This fourth posting covers the chapter on Water.

"Each of our ten cloud types contains two or three forms of water simultaneously--vapor, water droplets, and ice crystals. The combination varies between the cloud types and changes over the lifetime of an individual cloud....water molecules are moving fluidly between vapor, liquid, and solid phases. Change is occurring at he largest and smallest scales--from the overall mass of the cloud to atoms within it. Even clouds that seem stationary or slow-moving are in perpetual molecular turmoil. A cloud is a visible mass of zinging, bouncing, jiggling, and darting. A cloud is a moon bounce, a pinball machine, a beehive, a mosh pit of water."

One of the most difficult things to realize is that water vapor in our atmosphere is invisible the naked eye and that the water we can see in the form of a cloud is liquid water or solid water (ice). It is easy to think vapor is the same as steam, but it isn't. Steam is liquid water droplets. Thanks to the Geostationary Operational Satellite System (GOES), you can see otherwise invisible water vapor imagery  here. A fine example of water vapor over the continental U.S. can be seen here via mp.4. 

Another challenge in trying to visualize all that water in clouds is the shape of the water droplets. Liquid water droplets are spherical. In the form of raindrops they may be spherical or even hamburger-bun shaped. Ice crystals appear in many beautiful iterations of the hexagonal structure of interlocking water molecules. 

Water droplets are never never never shaped like "Mr. Drippy"

Nor are water molecules ever shaped like Mickey Mouse. 

Clouds are made of water and dirt. This came a surprise to me because the clouds do not look dirty. Our atmosphere is full of microscopic particles (too many to list here), some which form the perfect surface for water vapor molecules to condense on (the way it does on a blade of grass on a dewy morning for on the side of a cold soda can on a hot and humid summer day). These particles are known as "condensation nuclei" and are at the heart of every cloud droplet. After a rain, these particles are "washed" out of the atmosphere and leave the air feeling fresh and clean. 

One of the most spectacular forms of the altocumulus cloud is this species known as altocumulus lenticularis. Here (below) there are several of these "lenticulars" or "lennies" as they are known by the cloud cognoscenti. These are hovering over Mt. Rainier where they are commonly seen (though not always as spectacularly as this example). This is a type of mid-level cloud (mid is between 6,500 and 23,000 feet) that forms in the lee of a prominent mountain or mountain range; warm, moist water vapor is forced to rise over a mountain barrier and, as it does so, it cools and condenses--becoming a visible, lens-shaped cloud. As it passes descends on the leeward side, the cloud warms and evaporates. The pattern of ascending and descending air established by the mountain continues downwind, creating a series of pennies.

I have never seen a lennie as dramatic as the one above, but this cap cloud (below) hugging Mt. Rainier one August afternoon provided more beauty, comfort, and solace than any cloud I have ever experienced. 

As did this layer of altocumulus clouds that came to my rescue when it caught a "glory"--an optical phenomenon associated with water droplet clouds. For more images of glories (so you can recognize them from your airplane window seat, check out the photos on EarthSky.

Next up: Sideways #6: +DROPLETS+

What birds? Look at the clouds!

I read with great interest an article in the Skagit Valley Herald that the Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County (EDASC) and Skagit Audubon Society (where I'll be speaking about clouds on February 13) are teaming up to draw as much attention to the wintering flocks of snow geese, swans, eagles as to the county's fields of tulips in springtime.

The Economic Development Alliance is trying to make the most of the downtime in the tourism season--mid-January through the end of February to boost the local economy.  Biirders and tulip-gazers all need to eat, warm up, shop, fuel up, and sleep somewhere, right?

Truly, Skagit County is a fabulous place for birdwatching. And cloud watching. My experience of this million-acre county is mostly from the car en route to and from Bellingham. At freeway speeds, the birds are just dots in the fields in the broad, fertile floodplain of the Skagit River. Oh but the sky and the clouds! This is Big Sky Country and you get horizon-to-horizon views in several directions at once, with the clouds appearing in many forms at once between the Cascades to the east and the San Juan Islands to the west. When the clouds are just right (as they often are in Skagit County), the sunsets are less about looking west than about looking in all directions to see the dazzling, luminous glory surrounding you.

So if you're heading to Skagit County for the birds (and you certainly should) make sure you look at what's behind and above the birds. You don't even need binoculars or a spotting scope to enjoy the clouds.

Thought the Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County hasn't gotten the cloud bug yet or realized the potential of the clouds to lure droves of birdwatchers and tulip gazers to this beautiful part of Washington, I'll be singing the clouds' praises on February 13 at  7 p.m. at the Skagit Audubon Society when I'll be doing a program on my book, A Sideways Look at Clouds.

The program is free and open to the public. 7:00 Social; 7:30 Program. Padilla Bay Interpretive Center, 10441 Bayview-Edison Road, Mt. Vernon, Washington. 

Meanwhile, please check out the Birds of Winter programs in Skagit County. There's one this weekend (January 27-28) in La Conner. You can enjoy programs by fellow Mountaineers Book author and award-winning photographer Paul Bannick and biologist Martha Jordan of the Northwest Swan Conservation Association. 

And always take a moment to look up at the clouds!

Clouds at the Cole Gallery

Last Saturday, the clouds marched into Edmonds, Washington. The Edmonds Bookshop hosted me for a noon-time presentation on my book, A Sideways Look at Clouds. I arrived a bit early at this wonderful independent bookstore, browsed for a bit, and one of the bookstore staff members lead me next door to the Cole Gallery. As if there weren't enough clouds in the sky or in my book...here was a gallery full of clouds, part of an exhibit entitled  "Color, Light, and Atmosphere--Luminous Landscapes" featuring the works of Amanda Houston and David Marty.

I was thrilled to have so many paintings in one big room, rather than have to chase down the clouds in paintings displayed in multi-storied, multi-roomed art museums. No one would disagree with me that most of the paintings on display were of clouds, even though the exhibit was described as, "Stunning skies, glowing sunsets, quiet lakes and sunlit forests are part of the varied subjects in our latest show featuring a beautiful collection of landscape paintings..."

What? We know what makes the sky stunning. Clouds. We know what makes the difference between a ho-hum sunset and a spectacular one. Clouds. We know what often makes a landscape painting luminous. Clouds.  As I've said here and elsewhere, we should really call them cloudscapes and cloudsets. 

Terminology aside, Amanda Houston really gets the clouds. By chance, this Willamette Valley artist was in the Cole Gallery when I stopped in last Saturday, so I got the pleasure of meeting her and hearing about her fascinating with clouds in the Pacific Northwest. 

Just look at this stunning oil painting (36 x 48) called "Breaking Through." There's the dark clouds in the distance looking somewhat stable and then there are the brighter, peach-hued close-up clouds that are doing something more dynamic.

Upon closer inspection, it looks like the clouds have been swept. This is exactly the look of clouds that are trailing precipitation--known as virga--as they deteriorate after a storm. Virgo evaporates in the atmosphere and never reaches the ground. 

Look even closer at the artists brush strokes and you'll see--or feel, really--that she has captured the crazy energy of these clouds. Energy as lines and energy as color. Look how many colors she has included in her clouds. If you saw this detail of "Breaking Through" you might not guess that you're seeing a cloud. They should be white or gray or pink you might say. Well, sometimes they are but the more you look (and this is the goal of my book, after all) the more you will see that clouds capture all the colors of the rainbow. 

And that Amanda Houston has captured one of the many spectacular moments in the life of a cloud. She has matched the intensity of this skycape with and intensity of her artistic vision.

So...if you find yourself in charming downtown Edmonds, Washington, be sure to stop by Edmonds Bookshop (they have signed copies of A Sideways Look at Clouds) and the Cole Gallery next door. "Color, Light, and Atmosphere--Luminous Landscapes" is on exhibit until February 12. 

"Sideways" on Tour

As if on cue, the clouds returned to the Pacific Northwest as Mountaineers Books' released my new book, A Sideways Look at Clouds. The clouds never do anything on cue, so their timing is notable here. (Even stranger, Hurricane Maria made landfall as I was starting my book tour).

The clouds have been dramatic this fall and I've been on the road encouraging readers to look up and enjoy the every-changing drama in the skies at bookstores and other venues in Olympia, Seattle, Bellingham, Marysville, Kirkland, Portland, and Washington, DC. (Check out my events calendar for upcoming talks and book signings).

More than talking about my book and sharing some of my photos of the spectacular clouds we have in the Pacific Northwest, I've loved answering their questions about clouds: How exactly does it rain? When is a cloud a "cloud" and when do you call them "clouds?" Why do we have so many clouds here? What's the deal with high and low pressure? Are clouds changing? I am going to create a FAQs page to answer all of these and more.

I've also loved hearing people's stories about clouds. Here is one story (handwritten) and delivered to me at the 2017 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) trade show by Mary Anne Fraser, manager of Brilliant Moon books in Shelton.

"100 years ago, when I'd just turned twelve, I spent met hard-earned babysitting wages on a small Kodak camera. Within an hour the complete roll was filled and my mom (knowing how excited I'd been about this long-awaited purchase) offered to take the roll to our local "Pay and Save" to have my photos developed.

The week-long wait was finally over and I ran to the car to discover what my new hobby had delivered. Before I could open the obviously already opened packet, my mom said to me in a rather disappointed voice: "They're all clouds."

I looked at her, waiting for the rest of the observation ("They're beautiful." "I love the one that looks like an otter." "What an artist's eye you have.") but, alas, that was the sum total of her opinion.

I, on the other hand, was thrilled. Yes, they WERE all clouds."

While in Portland, I visited KATU-TV to talk with Helen Raptis on "AMNW" and Tra'Renee Chambers on "Afternoon Live" and also with Jefferson Smith, host of "XRAY in the Morning" (skip to 1:54:48) before my talk at Powell's on Hawthorne

After my interview on "Afternoon Live," the on-set photographer, Mark Plut, showed me photographs of his two recent paintings--of clouds!  "I too am fascinated by clouds," Mark told me, "especially how to paint them." In the first painting, Mark as painted a sky washed with what look like cirrostratus clouds to me. In the second painting, the landscape is transformed by more dynamic cumulus and altocumulus clouds. What a difference, eh? Thank you, Mark!

And because you can never have too many clouds--or paintings of clouds--in the Pacific Northwest, I went on a cloud hunt at the Portland Museum of Art. What a bonanza of clouds! Here is a gallery of a few of my favorites. 

Oskar Kokoschka/Tuileries Gardens, Paris; George Inness/Apezzo Pass, Titian's House; Joe Goode/Torn Cloud Painting; Robert Henri/Rue de Rennes; Robert Goonough/Grey Development; N.C. Wyeth/Rip Van Winkle, endpaper illustration; [forgot to photograph the label of the skyscrapers in the clouds--ooops]; George Michel/Landscape; ibid/detail of cloud

REMEMBER....EARTH WITHOUT ART is JUST "EH"

Speaking of...I'll be signing books at the 37th Annual  Wild Arts Festival at Montgomery Park in Portland, OR. The festival runs November 18-19 and benefits the fabulous Audubon Society of Portland. I'll be there Sunday noon-4 p.m. along with 36 other authors (and more than 200 artists) whose work is inspired by nature.