Clouds

For the past year, my moods have ranged widely from melancholy to frustration to anger and outrage, cycling through those emotions on a near daily basis as our federal government descends into what appears to be a bottomless decline.  A man who can no longer put together a coherent sentence and seemingly lacks even a basic concern for the people he was elected to serve, much less the concerns of our allies in other countries, runs amok, encouraged by enablers and politicians who support him because they fear his bully tactics.  His demands to "take" Greenland, an independent country already aligned with one of our European allies and with whom the US has an existing agreement relating to a US military base onsite, took me over the edge last week.  And then what clearly appears to be yet another murder of a US citizen by poorly trained ICE agents directed by dubious tyrannical leaders as he sought to exercise his Constitutional rights to protest in collaboration with his neighbors in Minneapolis threw me over the cliff into despair.

I've been trying to pull myself out of that hole and I promise I'm not going to turn this garden/plant-focused blog into a political platform but I felt like I had to recognize the moment.  I haven't attended a protest since last year but I feel it's almost inevitable I will again this year.  Meanwhile, I've signed plenty of petitions this year and made another contribution to the ACLU yesterday, the first of what may be many donations this year as I hope to see a sharp turn in the direction of our political climate as we head into our midterm elections.

The following photos captured on Monday helped center my feelings.  Perhaps they'll have something of the same effect on you.

Sunrise over the Port of Los Angeles

Clouds marked by a variety of contrails

Clearer skies as the morning proceeded

Here's a link to a song that captures the need to look forward:

On Friday, I'll share a completely unpolitical trip down a local trail, where I walked off some of my current angst.  I believe change is in the offing and the majority of the US population will drive even the most cowardly officials to either do the right thing, or show them out the door.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wordless Wednesday: Cloudy Views

Early morning, southeast view, September 18th

Sunset, northeast view, same day

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wednesday Vignette: Captivated by clouds

A week ago today, the weather was perfect.  The temperature was the very definition of comfortable, not too hot and not too cold - Goldilocks would have approved.  The air was clear (not an especially common occurrence here) and the sky was blue and decorated with puffy white clouds.  I was captivated and felt compelled to take photographs of the sky from my back garden.

Yesterday, you couldn't see the sky for the clouds.  We often get a morning marine layer here this time of year but it normally fades away well before noon.  However, yesterday we spent the entire day wrapped in a cloud.  Neither the sun nor blue sky made an appearance.

Late morning view looking to the northeast

View near noon looking toward the harbor, which was invisible in the mist, and also eerily quiet

The humidity level remained at the low-mid 90% level all day.  This reading was taken at 1:31pm.  (The weather station is still on standard time.)

 

This late afternoon shot from our back door captured some of the city below us, although I still couldn't see the harbor with my naked eye

It felt particularly odd because areas to both the east (in California's inland valleys) and the north (in the Pacific Northwest) were cooking.  Further evidence that Mother Nature can never be accused of being even-handed.  The circumstances led me to think of Joni Mitchell's song 'Both Sides, Now', which is currently playing on repeat in my head.

I hope the situations of those of you who struggled with heat earlier this week have improved and that your weather returns to something resembling normality.  For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wednesday Vignette: Creeping fog or creepy fog?

I wasn't sure how to describe the fog I noticed early last Friday evening as I was finishing up my garden chores.  The way it crept along the edges of the harbor, surrounding but not engulfing it, made me think of an episode of Twilight Zone.  It was sunny and clear where I was standing and I could see blue sky above and beyond the fog, which moved in more like a wave than a blanket.

This is what I saw just after 6pm on Friday evening

Usually, when fog rolls in it envelops the entire harbor.  The lights in the harbor and the city beyond are "turned off" and after the sun goes down all you can see, if anything, are a few of the closest homes.  That never happened on Friday night.  The mass that surrounded the harbor looked more like clouds sitting on the surface of the water.  By the following morning it had retreated a ways but it still created the appearance of a low wall surrounding the harbor.

 

This is the view after sunrise the next morning

I did a little online surfing and the best explanation I could find suggests that what I saw wasn't fog at all but clouds, perhaps Arcus clouds, possibly of the roll cloud type.  Interesting but not Twilight Zone material.  If you've seen something similar or can offer a better explanation, let me know.

For other Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wednesday Vignette: In the Pink

Rain has continued to fall at regular intervals here and the extended forecast shows the possibility of more into May, which would be extraordinary.  The most recent, relatively brief storm moved through on Sunday.  Monday was mostly clear and sunny, if still colder than normal, but afternoon clouds lit up the sky in pink as evening fell and I took the opportunity to grab a few photos.  Rather than let them land on the proverbial cutting room floor, I decided to post them as a Wednesday Vignette.

I may be deluding myself but it seemed that I could see a bit of snow on the mountains behind the thin veil of pink along the horizon

The Snow Supermoon could be seen rising to the right of the pine tree

The clouds visible on the southwest side of the house were particularly pretty even if the view was obscured by houses and foliage

The clouds visible to the west looked more ominous

For more Wednesday Vignettes, check in with Anna at Flutter & Hum.


All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party