The Cloud Reader

Molly

It was a May wedding and the weather was behaving very well indeed. I had brief thoughts of Hector and whether or not he was somehow responsible. Huge, fluffy clouds sailed majestically across the sky, their shapes conjuring up images of everything the imagination allowed. When Ann-I had permission to call her by her first name-came out of the church with Garret's dad, a shadow of one of the clouds passed across the church lawn and for a moment I could have sworn it looked like someone waving.

Garret was beaming in his new suit and even his sister wore a radiant smile, happily posing for friend and family photographers as the bridesmaid. It was at the reception during the toasts that our little group all gasped simultaneously when the best man, a doctor friend of Garret's dad, finished his tribute with the observation that the newlyweds looked forward to much new love and friendship to be enjoyed.

We all knew that those were the words Hector spoke to Garret. Once again, his prophecy came true. Suddenly the sun streamed into the reception hall from the side windows and we could see the clouds drifting and fading away in the clear sky.

THE END

A little more on clouds if anyone is interested.

Meteorologists divide the four main groups of clouds into ten principal cloud types. The high cloud group consists of cirrus clouds, the thin and wispy ones; cirrostratus, which are thin and resemble sheets and cirrocumulus, which are small, white, and puffy, cotton balls if you like.

The middle cloud group consists of altostratus clouds, which are grey and sheet like and the altocumulus, which are gray and puffy.

Low clouds consist of stratus clouds, which are low, obviously, gray and sheet like. Nimbostratus clouds, which are sheet like and dark gray from which rain or snow is falling and stratocumuluss, which are dark, low, and lumpy.

The vertical development clouds consist of cumulus clouds, which are small and puffy and the giant cumulonimbus clouds, which are thunderstorm clouds with a top that may extend more than 15,000 meters above the ground.