By: Blonde Two
On the Isle of Man we Blondes discovered that a budding cloud spotter doesn’t really have to try too hard to find what she is looking for. The Isle of Man clouds have a will of their own and are quite capable of coming to find you if they feel like it.
Take the day we climbed up to the summit of Snaefell (snow mountain). The views were fantastic and we could see the all seven of the kingdoms that the mountain is famed for (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, The Isle of Man, heaven and the sea) but it was the clouds that mesmerised me. They moved so quickly that their presence didn’t spoil the views, but enhanced them as peaks disappeared and emerged and banks of clouds swept up the valleys. Dartmoor is famed for its changeable weather but in a cloud race, Dartmoor’s skies would be left behind their nimble Isle of Man counterparts.
The next day, the clouds were obviously a bit tired after all of their racing around because they weren’t moving at all. There was an amazing temperature inversion over Douglas. Where there had been sea, there was cloud, it was quite difficult to spot which was which. While we walked in sunshine, the coast below was swallowed up in unmoving cloud. It was quite eery.
As we drove back to Ramsey along the mountain road, we spotted the most bizarre of cloud formations. The clouds just off the coast at Ramsey had formed what looked like a giant wave. It was most impressive and must have been an important occasion because it made the papers later in the week.
Would that I was at home. I can see all sorts of things in those clouds that could be brought out with a bit of Photoshop fun, but then it would be almost a crime to muck about like that with nature.
Have you been posting from IOM and if so how do you put the photos in, presumably they originate from the same device you use to post?
I have now got into the swing of transferring photos from my camera to this iPad using the camera’s in- built wifi. A great step forward.
As so often is the case, the pictures didn’t really capture the moment. I did take a bit of video but that didn’t either. I take the pics on my phone and bluetooth them to the camera. We are back home now but yes, I was posting from the Isle of Man when internet was available. I am guessing that you are out walking again 🙂
one of the things I miss living much of the time in the Thames valley is (are?) the clouds of the north – here we get seemingly endless periods of grey lowering dullness (and nasty sneaky east winds) day after day, whilst ‘The North’ is glorying in either lovely sunny weather or feasting on magnificent cloud formations – golden castles, fiery furnaces, black abysses – all thrilling, whether rain or shine.
I once lay on the grass to do some cloud spotting with some of our teenage lads only to find an enormous one that was clearly shaped like a male member. Much giggling and blushing ensued!