"Cloud Spotter's Guide"

I’ve found the perfect book for a gift. I’m going to buy one for myself. I’ll be able to refer to it time and again while I sit on my patio.

“The Cloudspotters Guide, the Science, History and Culture of Clouds” by Gavin Pretor-Pinney is a great resource for learning the names of cloud formations, why they form as they do, and the folklore associated with each type of cloud.

Honestly, I have always been fascinated by clouds. They’re one of the greatest, but least-observed, wonders in our natural world. As a child I can recall lying on the schoolyard lawn and looking up as the clouds passed silently overhead. Unfortunately, the older I become, the less time I spend lying on the grass and looking up to the heavens.

Our Nebraska sky is filled with clouds—huge and white. At night, it’s a hindrance to have clouds in the sky if you are trying to identify stars and galaxies. But during the day, if you take the time to look up and admire the sky, you see the wonders of vapor forming and reforming into beautiful configurations.

Storm clouds particularly amaze me. Although I have never seen a tornado, it’s awesome to see those dark and seemingly heavy clouds slowly moving toward you with lightening flashes darting horizontally and to and from the ground. I find real pleasure in sitting on my patio and watching a storm approach. My wife doesn’t appreciate my fascination but I find it an ethereal experience—unless, of course, the Civil Defense sirens begin to wail.

In describing these heavenly vapors, the author draws on physics, classical poetry, and folklore—both ancient and new-age. In the first ten of the thirteen chapters, he clearly defines the main cloud formations from stratus to cirrus and cumulonimbus. Starting at sea level, he discusses the types of clouds at each level in the atmosphere. His photographs, while not in color, do a good job of illustrating his descriptions.

The book concludes with the human effects on the atmosphere such as jet contrails, smog, and ozone depletion.

As noted earlier, this is a gift-type book. It will hold the lay reader’s interest while teaching him about our majestic skies.

The reader is reminded that the Library’s book sale will begin on Thursday evening, August 24th at 6:00 PM and continue on through the weekend during regular library hours. This is the second book sale of the year. The first was held during our Sesquicentennial celebration and, while we had good sales, there were too many good books and recording books left to offer them at a buck-a-bag. This time, however, our Sunday sale will clear the shelves at a buck-a-bag.