We don’t have too many days with clouds here in the Sonoran Desert, so when we have one, I enjoy studying the formations. I’m curious about the holes that form in the sheet of fluffy clouds, like the one above. Do winds hollow out these spaces, or do the expanding edges pull or tear these openings?
It looks like a few clouds are moving in to fill in the gap. This formation reminds me of wound healing. The repairing cells move forward into the openings in cuts and things. That was one of the topics I worked on as a biologist.
Something struck me as odd in another opening. I noticed an unusual looking cloud. That cloud is actually the moon! It’s in the Waning Gibbous Phase, meaning the visible portion is more than half but the rest of the disk is not illuminated. I wonder if the moon was pretending to be cloud since it was up so late in the morning.
Take the time to up look during the day. You might see a moon sneaking about in the clouds.
Book Note: Author Elaine A. Powers lives in the Sonoran Desert and has written several books about the flora and fauna.
Queen of the Night is a book by Elaine A. Powers, also written in rhyme, about the very special Night-Blooming Cereus.
And How NOT to Photograph a Hummingbird is a really fun way to learn about the Sonoran Desert, as the desert trips up a tourist who really, really wants a photo of a hummingbird. A glossary of flora and fauna is included.
