You get up, you go to work.  You go home, eat dinner, and maybe relax in front of the TV.  Go to bed.  Repeat the routine tomorrow.  Day in, day out, working for the weekend, and two days of…well, that depends, doesn’t it?  Is your weekend two days of bliss and relaxation, or two days of activities that cannot be done during the work week?

Getting caught up in this pattern is the story of modern life.  And when we are caught up in this sort of cycle, it is so very easy to miss what else is going on around you.

Welcome to the new Wednesday’s Wondrous World!  I am going to take a moment of your time each week to point out one of the numerous things you might just be missing due to the pattern of your life.

This week, I want to start with something we see on a very regular basis.  Sometimes they just hover over us, unobserved, fleetingly.  Sometimes they dim the sun in the sky.  Sometimes they sink so low they dim our very sight.  I am talking of course about clouds.

Scientifically, we know that clouds are a mass of visible liquid droplets or frozen crystals made of water.  Science gives the different types of clouds names like cirrus and cumulous and cumulonimbus.  Clouds may or may not produce rain, snow, or be a part of a weather event like a hurricane or tornado.

But let’s step back from the science of clouds, and consider instead something I think almost everyone does as a child.  I know when I was a kid, I would sometimes lie on my back on a hill or field, and look up at the clouds to see what sorts of images they would form.

I have always had an active imagination.  I didn’t just see horses and faces and simple shapes in the clouds.  I saw cities, and alien spacecraft, and robots and futuristic armies advancing across the sky.

I’m not talking about an overcast day, I am talking about a partly cloudy day when those fluffy wisps of cloud float by now and again.  When was the last time you actually looked to the clouds for inspiration?  When was the last time you looked up at the clouds to spark your imagination?

Clouds in the sky can form the most amazing pictures.  Even if you cannot see shapes and recognizable images amongst them, clouds can form impressive patterns and take on different hues across the horizon.  Clouds can calm, can inspire, can renew your sense of awe and wonder about the world.

Even at night, a cloud passing over the moon can produce the most stunning halo effect.  Clouds parting may reveal the most brilliant stars, or passing satellites and airplanes across the night sky.

A cloud is not just water vapors taking form…it can be an incredible window to the depths of our wondrous world.

When was the last time you explored the clouds?