Photo A Day, Day 12: Clouds

As I’ve been working on this month of Photo-A-Day blogs, I’ve gotten into the habit of reviewing the next subject the night before, usually right after I’ve completed the previous entry. Sometimes I’ll begin thinking of ideas right away, and sometimes I’ll wait until the next day and wander around with my camera in hand, waiting for inspiration to strike. With today’s subject being “clouds,” I couldn’t do much to plan ahead, so I waited until today, intending to go outside in the morning, find a suitable cloud formation, and start clicking away.

But I woke this morning to the sound of raindrops pattering against my bedroom windows, and a quick peek through a crack between the drapes revealed a dull gray sky and big, fluffy snowflakes mixed in with the raindrops. There was not a single distinct or defined cloud to be seen, only a mottled gray curtain from horizon to horizon. 

But although the monotone grayness was not much to look at in its own right, it was a perfect backdrop for the gracefully arching, nearly barren tree limbs stretching across in front of it. Its neutral gray highlighted the bright gold and deep reddish-orange of the few leaves that were still clinging tenaciously to the branches.

Had there been a bright blue sky and fluffy white clouds behind the trees, I wouldn’t have appreciated or even noticed the fascinating cross-cross of the branches or seen the jewel tones of those last few leaves. Sometimes, a bit of bland is needed to make us notice the exciting. Even if it’s just bland clouds.