#Earthschooling365: Day Sixty-Two
Inner Work Meditation (Heart): Today on our nature walk I looked up into the sky on the way home and saw a heart in the clouds. It wasn’t a perfect heart but I was having a rough day and seeing it made me smile. Taking the nature walk always makes me feel better no matter what kind of day I am having but in this case I also decided to see this heart as a sign. I felt like Mother Nature was telling me, “I love you too”. When you think about it logically it doesn’t make any sense. But it made me happy because I chose to believe that was the case. Take some time today to meditate on how you make your own choices about how you are going to interpret things. One person might see this cloud and think, “Seriously? Another cloudy day?” and be very upset. Another person might growl, “Why does it have to rain again today?” Or, one could choose to be inspired and think, “Wow. Mother Nature is sending me a message of love today.” Nothing changes in the cloud. The cloud is the same in each case. And nothing in each interpretation changes the cloud. No matter what interpretation you choose the cloud stays the same. It is often the same in life. You choose what interpretation you want to embrace. And isn’t it preferable to choose one that will make you and the others around you happier?
Nature Walk Idea (Head): Today we will learn about some different sky signs you can see in clouds. To use clouds to predict the weather you will need to observe both the types of clouds you see as well as the direction they are moving. In general if clouds are white and high (like the one in my heart picture above) the weather is good and will continue to be good. However, if the clouds become low and dark then it usually indicates rain is coming.
There are also some other specifics you can look for. You don’t need to remember the names of all the different clouds but if you see a dense towering vertical cloud (a Cumulonimbus cloud) early in the day and you see more than just one this indicates that storms may be approaching. The dense towering vertical clouds are the kind that look like a bunch of cotton balls squished together. Or sometimes they can form images that look like a white mountain range or white forest of trees.
If you see clouds that look like they are very low with growths protruding out of the bottom (Mammatus clouds) then these can indicate thunderstorms are coming. Mammatus also comes from the Latin mamma (meaning “udder” or “breast”) and this also describes how the clouds look from underneath. If you see wispy clouds that look a bit like a horse’s tail or just wispy in general (like in the photo I took with the plants in the foreground) then this means bad weather will come in the next day. These clouds are called Cirrus clouds. If you see a sky spotted with little clouds that look like ridges in a field, spots on a leopard, or even ripples in the desert sand (Altocumulus clouds) then these also indicate bad weather within the next day. If you see both then you can be certain it will rain within the next day (24-36 hours).
If you see clouds on a winter night, however, it is often a good thing since those clouds are going to prevent the temperature being lowered. So warmer weather will be on the way.
The last kind of cloud we will talk about are the Nimbostratus clouds. Those are the ones that hang low in the sky and are usually very heavy and covering a lot of the sky. They often make beautiful pictures in the sky and are the perfect kind of clouds to take pictures of a sunset with. However, these clouds often indicate that rain will be coming in the next few hours. Your assignment today is to try to identify different kinds of clouds in the sky and to then try to interpret what those mean for the weather today. If you want some additional cloud lessons and images you can visit this free .gov page HERE.
Photography Notes (Hands): Today your assignment is to use clouds to enhance your subject. This is different than just taking pictures of clouds. In the picture of the “cloud heart” I took above all I did was take a picture of a cloud shaped like a heart for my own personal memory album. The cloud did not enhance my subject in any way. In fact, the cloud was the subject. However, in the picture of the dried plants silhouetted against the sky the clouds make the picture much more interesting. They add color, texture and interest to the background. If you do not have clouds in the sky today then save this assignment for another day and repeat any of your favorite assignments from the past few weeks for today.
Verse: Cloudy Weather
Copyright Kristie Burns
This poem can help students learn about the different clouds. Please do not copy this poem without permission. You can write to us at: CustomerService@TheBEarthInstitute.com for publishing guidelines for any of our poems.
Idea for Waldorf teachers: You can copy the part of the poem for each kind of cloud on the chalkboard – one each day and have students draw or write about it in their Main Lesson Book.
Cum-u-lon-im-bus
Towering above us
Cum-u-lon-im-bus
Making quite a fuss
White mountain range
Ghostly forest so strange
In the sky encroaching
Means storms approaching
Mammatus with growths that hang low
A big white herd of buffalo
Hundreds of udders she forms
And brings hoof pounding thunderstorms
Cirrus is a wild pearly mare
Her wispy white tale sweeps the air
Fills the sky with uninhibited neigh
Bringing bad weather the very next day
Al-to-cum-u-lus ripples in the sand
Ridges in fields of the farmer’s land
Spots on a leopard stalking his prey
Also brings bad weather the very next day
Nim-bo-stra-tus hanging so low
Heavy and looming with an inner glow
Will set down it’s load-heavy showers
Down will come rain in the next few hours
Traditional Poems for Weather
These poems are not copyrighted like the original poem above. The following poems are traditional poems and part of the public domain.
When leaves show their undersides,
Be very certain, rain betides.
This saying was created because often before the rain there is a bit of an upward breeze that causes the leaves to turn up a bit.
Red sky at night,
Sailor’s delight!
Red sky in the morning,
Sailors take warning!
This rhyme works because weather moves from west to east so whatever weather is in the west at sunset tonight is moving INTO our area and will probably be with us tomorrow as well. So if the sky is red without clouds at sunset then this means good weather is coming our way. But if the sky is red in the morning this usually means dry air is moving out to the east. This usually brings clouds and rain when the moister air then comes in from the west.
*These poems have been created for many purposes – from early childhood circle time verses to inspirational or expressive. They vary from day to day so you may find the way you use them or enjoy them also varies. If you would like to set these poems to music consider our tutorial: Creating Your Ow Waldorf Verses or Finding Your Inner Voice.
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This series takes you through an entire year of our nature walks and is part of our non-profit project #Earthschooling365 at www.Earthschooling.org. The photos and posts in this series are all copyrighted. Please do not share or re-print them. Instead, share the link to this blog with your friends.
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