Hot Pink Flying Saucers & Other Clouds...

Is the name of a book published by The Cloud Appreciation Society, which was "formed in the summer of 2004 in order to fight the banality of 'blue-sky thinking' and to remind people that clouds are one of Nature's most beautiful and life-giving phenomena." 

The MANIFESTO of

The Cloud Appreciation Society

WE BELIEVE that clouds are unjustly maligned

and that life would be immeasurably poorer without them.

We think that they are Nature’s poetry,

and the most egalitarian of her displays, since 

everyone can have a fantastic view of them.

We pledge to fight ‘blue-sky thinking’ wherever we find it. 

Life would be dull if we had to look up at

cloudless monotony day after day.

We seek to remind people that clouds are expressions of the 

atmosphere’s moods, and can be read like those of 

a person’s countenance.

Clouds are so commonplace that their beauty is often overlooked. 

They are for dreamers and their contemplation benefits the soul. 

Indeed, all who consider the shapes they see in them will save 

on psychoanalysis bills.

And so we say to all who’ll listen:

Look up, marvel at the ephemeral beauty, and live life 

with your head in the clouds!

I was introduced to this society today when I opened my mail, inside was the loveliest of gifts... This tiny little book, this book of clouds named: Hot Pink Flying Saucers & Other Clouds. For those of you who know me well, you know that I have a Cloud Photo Collection (several posted here on this blog). No one knows this better than my gal pal Danielle from Kauai, who I have forced to look up more than once to notice just how beautiful these natural wonders can be. 

I think why I am compelled to Cloud Watch is because one of my favorite memories of my Mother is laying in a park in North Vancouver when I was approximately 4. We were laying on our backs looking up at the clouds interpreting their shapes. The fact she took the time to relax and play with my imagination will never be forgotten. 

Here's to special memories from childhood and lazy afternoons at the beach... 

Thank-you Ms. D. for your thoughtfulness, you made me smile today. xo P.