Chasing Clouds

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by Arundhati Basu

Billows upon billows upon billows of clouds hung in the morning sky yesterday. We were in a Gainsborough painting. Driving through the Cotswolds and staring at the sky. Of course, I reminded Adi to keep his eyes on the road too or we would be looking down upon the countryside from the clouds. A bit too early for that. To keep his eyes in place was the yellow vista that comes up in April with timeliness. The rapeseed fields that spring up along the roads leading into the Cotswolds. They shall turn uniformly yellow in some time so much so that you cannot spy a speck of green amongst the sheets of yellow.

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“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add colour to my sunset sky.” Rabindranath Tagore
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“I know that I shall meet my fate somewhere among the clouds above; those that I fight I do not hate, those that I guard I do not love.” William Butler Yeats
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“When I look up and see the sun shining on the patch of white clouds up in the blue, I begin to think how it would feel to be up somewhere above it winging swiftly thought the clear air, watching the earth below, and the men on it, no bigger than ants.” Eddie Rickenbacker
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“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” Edward Abbey
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“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” John Lubbock
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“There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds.” Gilbert K. Chesterton

And before I leave you, I cannot make Sunday complete without browsing through the postcard collection, so here are a few below. Are you having a good day? I would love to hear about it. I am sitting in front of the telly (’tis the noble day to be a couch potato), munching on spicy French Toast, catching up with the final instalment of The Voice, a reality show, and wondering what to rustle up for dinner.

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Baptistery of San Giovanni, Firenze.
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The Baptistery, Firenze.

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On that oomph-y note, till tomorrow then, my lovelies.

Published by

Arundhati Basu

The great affair in my life is to travel. I count myself immensely fortunate that my partner shares this passion. We are a team that likes to spend time planning and plotting out places to go. Destination check, flights check, accommodation check, cheesy grins check. Off we go.

61 thoughts on “Chasing Clouds”

  1. Ay ay ay … Sophia in her corsetry and la Dolce Vita – what’s not to love? What is really to love is your sublime homage to the clouds. I’m a particular fan of WB Yeats and that quote is gloroiusly fitting. Don’t disappear into the clouds just yet though … terra firma needs your wit, wisdom and words a long time yet 🙂 And your pictures. Not forgetting your beautiful pictures ….

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    1. You are killing it. Those words made my Sunday *goofy grin. Sophia makes me happy. Have you watched her in ‘Houseboat’? A classic is special because of her and of course Cary Grant (I love his wicked deliveries). Yeats is sublime, isn’t he? The Lake Isle of Innisfree, aah. The aim is to keep my feet firmly on earth so that I do get to meet people like you, even though virtually x

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      1. In my (possibly not so) humble opinion, Sophia is the most beautiful, divine woman of all time. Houseboat was a Saturday afternoon treat when I was growing up. Cary Grant is still my mother’s heartthrob and why not? Yeats. Yeats is the beating of my heart. Lake Isle of Innisfree – just utter poetic perfection. When my children were little, I had his Cradle Song written in my rather crude calligraphy on vellum over the cot each one inhabited and then grew out of. He was right. I did miss them when they had grown. But not all the time because I do rather enjoy the me-time I can indulge in now 😉

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      2. Ha ha ha, you are precious. Me-time is a necessity plus you gifted them Yeats as toddlers. Hmm I shall look up Cradle Song. Btw your mother and I have Cary Grant in common. That man was utterly butterly wonderful.

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      3. I’m joining the Cary party per-leeze … he was my ideal man (still is actually but my husband must never know this terrible truth!) You’d love my mummy …. total old-school upper eccentric. Priceless and to be bottled! x

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      4. Ha ha ha. I do not know if I can say the same about my mummy. She was a dragon though she is quite tamed now by a virago of a daughter. Cary, I believe, would never complain about more women in his pen. And husbands have the distinction of being the chosen ones to pamper us. How can they not stomach some truths 😉

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      5. I like your style! There is still a line I don’t cross with mama … it’s unspoken and those that know me have look of panic in their eye when I’m getting close! I’m tempted to turn my redundant back room into an homage to Cary and Sophia and la Dolce Vita and all the other delectable goodies from that era that could SO do with returning and giving us all something to desire and delight in! x

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      6. I have crossed lines with my ma alright. That does not hold her back. I mean we your quintessential sparring duo. What do I say, my mother pushes boundaries. Back rooms, Cary and Sophia and classic heart-throbs, I cannot fight the delight of that. Do share x

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  2. How cute! Sometimes I even some figurative shapes of the cloud like an elephant or a bunny. 🙂 By the way, I bought exactly the postcard of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, Firenze and sent it to a friend in France. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Oh my, we liked the same postcard. The chances of that! Yesterday itself, Osyth, the clouds elongated into long puffy stretches on either side of that triangular billow. Now imagine that. Veritable rows of soldiers, marching away, singing ditties that remind them of home.

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    1. I cannot fight you on that. Sophia loved and owed everything in her life to pasta. I think she won me over with that line. One who acknowledges pasta to be the reason behind her success is no mean woman, eh.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. eh…I see you have picked up on a Canadian colloquialism unlike our neighbours to the south (USA) huh? Of course we won’t talk about how funny the Brits talk…perhaps we could poke fun at the unintelligible English of the Irish though 😉

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  5. You had me at clouds. One day fairly recently, I looked up at the sky on my way to work and fell deeply in love with clouds. I’ve seen them my whole life and yet. Now I am constantly pointing them out and people think I’m a cloud loving weirdo. Every morning before leaving my driveway I stop to look at the day’s cloud formations. It makes for a good start and gives me peace. Plus they are always so interesting in their variation.

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      3. What is this time you keep writing?? And is it winding down?! It seems to be winding down. I thought I should know and was too ashamed to say I didn’t know. But now I must know! Hahaha

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  8. It’s been a very lovely day. And the Cotswolds! Lovely. The sky was lovely today (I’m in Cornwall…) and it always feels so much more lovely when we can get outside and feel the sun!

    (Love the postcards too!)

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thanks 🙂 You live in the county that has my heart. I would someday love to live there in a cottage by the sea. The night sky in Cornwall is fantastic too. I remember when I went glamping in Pencuke and the sky was a glittering dome awash with stars. Sigh.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I do – all of my photos on my blog are local. I live in the centre only 35 or so minutes from either coast. We’ve been here just over two years, and after years of visiting we absolutely love it. I can’t imaging moving anywhere else (although coastal does appeal!!)

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      3. We were in the same situation. I love it: particularly Penwith, but there’s no work for me there. I work in Plymouth, 40 minutes away from our lovely little cottage in the middle of nowhere! Where are you going at Easter?

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  13. Wow, the clouds … and then the rapseed as weel.It’s always an eye-pleaser, isn’t it! ❤ Such a beautiful scenery with the blue sky. We just went for our evening walk in Cley and enjoyed the yellow fields.

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    1. I have more yellow fields coming up! They are becoming even more lush by the day. They are just so unbelievably beautiful that I can imagine that the walk would have made you quite so happy. We wait for them each year with some eagerness 🙂

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