A friend of mine once told me that her mother, years ago, when moving to Florida was newly popular, was in a heated debate with a friend. The friend was arguing that there was no scenery to speak of in Florida, that it was flat and uninteresting. The friend extolled the virtues of her parts of the country where the mountainous terrain provides picture postcard views that, she said, delighted the senses. My friend’s mom looked at her in astonishment and said, “Who needs mountains? We have clouds!”
I’ve never forgotten that story. Her mama was right. I think there’s something different about the sky in Florida. It’s blue in a bright way I rarely noticed in the Midwest where I’ve lived most of my life. I never was very science-y and don’t really understand why the sky seems bluer here or how clouds form. The sky appearing spectacular here has, I think, something to do with Florida being a peninsula. When I searched the web for an explanation, I still didn’t understand it, but I found an article about the very subject I’m writing about today. This guy, Chip Scanlan, makes my point of this post far better than I do so it’s linked here.
Last night Randy called me outside to look at the clouds forming at sunset. Surprisingly, the picture here was in the eastern, not western sky. The clouds were reflecting the colors the sky was turning on the opposite side of the the horizon. I just sighed with contentment at the picture it created. We do, indeed, have abundant, constantly changing clouds that completely satisfy the scenic beauty quota I need in my life.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love living in Florida?
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