When I die and they lay me to rest Gonna go to the place that’s the best When I lay me down to die Goin’ up to the Lizard in the sky
…. (apologies to Norman Greenbaum)
Clouds come floating into my life from other days no longer to shed rain or usher storms but to give colour to my sunset sky. – Rabindranath Tagore.
Half moon at sunrise.
Art thou pale for weariness
Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth,
Wandering companionless
Among the stars that have a different birth,
And ever changing, like a joyless eye
That finds no object worth its constancy?
- Percy Shelley
When I was in the garden, this small plane flew overhead, reminding me of a sad anniversary. My father used to fly over our house when we were kids in his little Cessna. He loved to take us up with him but mostly so he could scare us into never wanting to go up with him again. He would have been 100 years old on January 15, 2024. I’m absolutely positive he would not have wanted to turn 100 but we miss him none-the-less. Hi Dad!
I wish children didn’t die. I wish they would be temporarily elevated to the skies until the wars end. Then they would return home safe, and when their parents ask them; where were you? They’d say “We were playing with the clouds.” Ghassan Fayiz Kanafani
27 thoughts on ““We were playing with the clouds””
Thank you that was a beautiful post, I love the part about your dad , I am sure he’s fli a little plane up there constantly buzzing you!
I see things in the clouds too and boy that Lizard is a beauty… Sport in the Sky will never sound the same.
That last poem about child and war….💜💜💜
“nothing in the air but clouds. nothing in the air but rain. each man’s life to short to find meaning and all the books almost a waist. i sit listening to them singing … i sit and listen to them” Damn it all, damn the life not worth living. Duke
I could spend all day watching clouds … sometimes I watch them so intently that I feel like I’m a part of them. You may call me an airhead, but I’m not the only one.
You had me laughing at your one-word change in the first verse and again with your dad’s objective in taking you up and scaring you. 🙂 Looking at clouds and seeing shapes is a lovely way to pass some time and just relax in nature.
My father was a very cautious man on the ground but once in the sky, his inner dare devil took over and he let it all hang out. None of his children followed in his footsteps and became a pilot. When I saw that lizard cloud that song came immediately to mind!
How sweet, “We were playing with the clouds!” Children are good at that even from ground level – visualizing animal shapes and other imaginary things. Clouds are good for that.
It was the anniversary of his death and I’d been thinking of him so I might have ascribed special meaning to a random event! But that’s what gives us special moments, right?
Saying nothing in particular 
Thank you that was a beautiful post, I love the part about your dad , I am sure he’s fli a little plane up there constantly buzzing you!
I see things in the clouds too and boy that Lizard is a beauty… Sport in the Sky will never sound the same.
That last poem about child and war….💜💜💜
Thanks Willow! If only the children could play in the clouds while the adults made war against each other.
If only but what would they come to …..I wish there was an answer 💜💜
There’s something very calming about staring up at clouds. It puts things in perspective , even with giant lizards floating overhead.
😉
Yes indeed. Clouds watching is an excellent way to relax. We have a lot of lizards in the garden so they don’t frighten me at all.
I enjoy photos of clouds. There’s a certain way in which a person can feel small yet empowered and that’s what clouds do for me.
Very true.
I agree that children in wars is a tragedy. The cloud pictures are lovely.
Thank you. The situation in the Middle East is beyond me … I feel like there is no good side to take.
Yes, I do understand how you feel.
Lovely pictures, lovely poems. I like the memory of your father buzzing you guys in his Cessna.
It was the anniversary of his death and small planes don’t fly low over our house that often.
“nothing in the air but clouds. nothing in the air but rain. each man’s life to short to find meaning and all the books almost a waist. i sit listening to them singing … i sit and listen to them” Damn it all, damn the life not worth living. Duke
I could spend all day watching clouds … sometimes I watch them so intently that I feel like I’m a part of them. You may call me an airhead, but I’m not the only one.
A dismal gray
Or dappled day
Of gargantuan girth
Or bluesky birth
A red sunset
I won’t forget
My cirrus friends
Of nimbus portends.
Nice – did you write that?
A quick ditty for you.
You had me laughing at your one-word change in the first verse and again with your dad’s objective in taking you up and scaring you. 🙂 Looking at clouds and seeing shapes is a lovely way to pass some time and just relax in nature.
My father was a very cautious man on the ground but once in the sky, his inner dare devil took over and he let it all hang out. None of his children followed in his footsteps and became a pilot. When I saw that lizard cloud that song came immediately to mind!
How sweet, “We were playing with the clouds!” Children are good at that even from ground level – visualizing animal shapes and other imaginary things. Clouds are good for that.
Maxwell Parish did a lot of paintings of young people playing up in the clouds – it always seemedlike Heaven to me.
It is a wonderful vision! 🙂
Your father is flying in the clouds now… ⛅️
What a lovely memory. Flying with your dad. (I’m sure they’re watching over us.)
It was the anniversary of his death and I’d been thinking of him so I might have ascribed special meaning to a random event! But that’s what gives us special moments, right?
I hear you.