Mr. Cloud

Today as I was picking strawberries in the blazing heat it occurred to me that clouds are sadly under appreciated. Poor clouds. No one ever looks outside and smiles with glee over a cloud filled sky. Children don't run outdoors yelling "YEA! Look at all the clouds! We love cloudy days!!!" When you have the big family picnic, summer wedding, graduation day or any other outdoor event planned - clouds are never what you hope for. Everyone wants Mr. Sun. Mr. Big Beautiful Yellow Hot Scorching Sun. Mr. Sun gets a lot of credit. He gets a lot of thanks and praise. Mr. Sun just soaks up all the gratitude for every single nice day of summer. The weathermen always love to give you the weather when the forecast calls for bright sunshine. Everyone smiles when looking at the sun-filled forecast. Well today, I am giving thanks to the clouds. My daughter and I went to the strawberry patch and it was hot. I mean baking hot. The strawberries didn't fare well this past week with all the storms. The standing water and blazing heat made for a kind of strawberry soup haze in the air. It took us twice as long to get 1/2 as many strawberries as last week. We traveled about 3 feet for every good berry. After 45 minutes of picking in the heat and feeling the sunburn spread on our legs and shoulders, who showed up? MR. CLOUD! A big beautiful dark cloud that instantly dropped the temperature about 15 degrees. My daughter and I just stood with our faces to the sky and relished the cool breeze that appeared. We decided right then and there that clouds deserve some applause. They bring the rain. They bring shade and cool breezes. On a bright sunny day nothing is prettier than white fluffy clouds. They give us a dazzling show of animal shapes, dragons, monsters, people and the cutest puppy dog ever. Lying in a field staring up at all the images that float by is a great way to share some fun. One person's menacing dragon is always another person's beautiful flower. So thank you Mr. Cloud. Thanks for bringing a little relief from today's overwhelming heat in the strawberry patch. My daughter and I are definitely glad you showed up today!