December 17, 2009

Island In The Air.

More snow has fallen over night during a somewhat severe snowstorm. As I sit here, looking out over the winter landscape, the image below - and foremost the location - seem very exotic and somewhat unreal.

Throughout the course of this year I have been sharing with you pictures from a beautiful book of mine, entitled Astronomy 365 days.
It was given to me as a Christmas gift and considering that the year 2009 was the year of Astronomy, I shared here once in a while some of the beautiful pictures depicted in my book.

The picture for today, the 17th of December, is the last one I am posting from this book in this year. Entitled "Lenticular Cloud Over Hawaii", it is taken by Peter Michaud, although I could swear it was taken by my friend Tom, who is an astronomer and takes stunning pictures of the amazing sky over the island of Hawaii, posting those on his beautiful blog "A Pacific View".

The cloud in the picture here apparently consists of several layers of clouds - to me it looks nothing like a cloud at all. More like a giant object in the sky, an island of steam and vapor. Or a futuristic castle in the air, in constant state of change and movement. Never the same, just like the tides of time...

Note: Just to clear up a misunderstanding; this is NOT my last post in this year.:)

29 comments:

Tom said...

Thank you so much for mentioning my blog. I've taken one or two photos of lenticular clouds over Mauna Kea but didn't have the camera handy when Peter took his picture.

I remember the day very well - we were all standing outside the office looking at this amazing cloud over the mountain.

I could go into the physics about what causes lenticular clouds but that would be boring!

Tom

Tom said...

PS. APOD

Kata Wagner Berg said...

Sad,that this is your last post this year.
Have a wonderful Christmas time and a fantastic 2010!

Kata Wagner Berg said...

Sad, that this is your last post this year!
Have a wonderful Christmas time and an amazing 2010!

Lucy said...

Isn't nature amazing? (Or is it really an alien spaceship!) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years. Enjoy your time off>

Brian Miller said...

oh wow. what a striking picture...i does seem almost magical and brings many a day dream...enjoy the snow!

Grandma Yellow Hair said...

Thank you so much for sharing this with us. What a great book you have been showing us.
I always enjoy my visit to your site.
Take care and enjoy your day
Maggie

♥Mimi♥ said...

Yes, the picture does seems surreal - even the tiniest hint of the sun seems surreal for me at this point. Now that I see winter out my door in full swing I won't be seeing much of the sun at all...sigh. And, if I do get to see the sun, that will mean murdering low temps because of now cloud cover.☺

Yes, the recipe that I posted for today would be lovely for a party but I can tell you this - friends and family are just as appreciative.

Kath said...

Don't worry, I understood it was your last post from this book. I look forward to reading many more before the end of 2009! Kath

Julie Hibbard said...

Wish I was closer...I would be bringing over a bottle of wine, some cheese and a HUGE dessert and we could catch up on life as we watch the snow fall.
One of these days I'm going to do just that!

Hilary said...

What a wonderful photo and yes, it's very Tom-like. Hopefully he'll still have many more chances to take such photography.

Keith said...

I bet that's an incredible book. It looks like it would be. I hope this finds you doing well. Take care. Thanks always for your great comments on my blog. Cheers!

Claus said...

Unusual cloud indeed! Very neat :-) thank you for sharing so many wonderful pictures with us along the year!
*hugs*

Anonymous said...

Wow, what an interesting picture. It does look like a dwelling where one can enter from the bottom center. Very intriguing indeed. I must visit Tom... to see some of his work... thanks!...so how deep is the snow today, Zuzana?
The Bach

S. Susan Deborah said...

The picture is beautiful as your posts.

Wishing you joy, peace and passion,
Susan

G said...

Clouds are the best... they are the perfect excuse to lay down and look up. That was a wonderful book you shared with us this year Zuzana. :)

Sumandebray said...

yes it definitely does not look like cloud to me .. I thought it was made of sand.

Stacey J. Warner said...

wow, that cloud is AMAZING.

Thanks for sharing.

much love

sprinkles said...

I will miss seeing pictures from this book. My father has the same book or something similar to it. I'll have to look it over again. He likes to show me pictures from it from time to time.

steviewren said...

I've never even heard of a lenticular cloud. I learn so much here in the blog world. I've got to research clouds some.

Jill from Killeny Glen said...

I am jealous of your snow...I hope we will have some soon.

A lovely photograph...AND I am glad this is NOT your last post of the year!

XO
J

Rebecca said...

What an amazing picture and this sounds like such an interesting book.

Betsy Brock said...

Now that is a neat looking cloud! Good for you having snow for Christmas! I'm off to visit Tom...

Unknown said...

A beautiful expression, Zuzana! xoxo!

Phivos Nicolaides said...

Wishing you Zuzana all the very best for a beautiful Christmas time and a happy 2010!

Rajesh said...

That is a spectacular shot of golden cloud.

Zuzana said...

Tom, Kata, The Lucy and Dick Show (welcome), Brian, Grandma…, Mimi, Kath, Julie, Hilary, Keith, Claudia, The Bach, Susan, BPG, Sumandebray, Stacey, sprinkles, stevie, Jill, Rebecca, Betsy, Michael, Phillip and Rajesh - thank you all for stopping by and I am glad you enjoyed pictures from my lovely book.
Perhaps I will return with new ones next year; after all there are 365 pictures and I only posted a handful.;)

Your visits and kind words are greatly appreciated – always.

xoxo
Zuzana

Calli said...

Such a wild looking image. Incredible looking!...

Looks like a very interesting book!
Calli xxoo

Zuzana said...

Calli, thank you, your visits always warm my heart.
xo