Cumulo Nimbly

Who Wants To Be A Cloud Controller?

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

I took these shots some months ago, because I was transfixed as a "normal" sunset suddenly produced purple and violet hues. A couple of minutes earlier, there was a huge wash of orange across the cloud bands when things changed swiftly and dramatically.

When you think about it, clouds have always been a metaphor for life. The phrase "dark clouds are gathering" denotes a particularly testing time, be it for an individual, a community or a nation.

"Cloud-cuckoo land" refers to a fanciful, imaginary place of unrealistic notions. "War clouds" are situations that threaten Man’s peaceful existence. "Storm clouds", apart from being large black clouds that signify a hostile weather pattern, also refer to personal problems.

No one seeks turbulence in their life; neither does anyone invite such a period. But no existence can be trouble-free. Humans are not clones of each other, hence by definition we must make adjustments and allowances for one another’s foibles. In order to co-exist in harmony, we all need to be sensitive to the thoughts and deeds of others.

Perhaps life would be boring if it were predictable. Those who read tarot cards or who can foretell the future in our palms or in patterns left by tea leaves might have a clearer vision of the future than the rest of us mortals. But to me life’s great challenge is its unpredictability.

I'd welcome your views on this theory I have - just as the greatest beauty in Nature's landscapes can be seen under rolling clouds, I think there is a strong human parallel. Perhaps when we are beset by life's problems, we discover resilience and strength we didn't know we possessed. Do you agree with that?

There is something special about clouds, too. Because they are a visible mass of moisture, they are subject to the very weather conditions that create them. No cloud stays stationary. No cloud stays the same shape forever. They morph. They move. They vanish.

In a country like Australia, a cloud is a possible promise of rain. All across a parched land, eyes are lifted in hope whenever an armada of black clouds appears.

Have no fear of the weather. Similarly, have no fear of life. No storm has ever lasted a lifetime.

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