Ragtag Daily Prompt: SPELLBOUND
The original and main meaning of this word is “held by a spell, or as if by a magic spell” but a second sense has arisen from this, fascinated by something wonderful or intriguing.
I enjoy thunderstorms, watching the boiling clouds. In his poem “Cloud-Break,” Canadian poet Archilbald Lampman, describes an intriguing storm scene…
To the summit of heaven the clouds
Are rolling aloft like steam;
There's a break in their infinite shrouds,
And below it a gleam.
O'er the drift of the river a whiff
Comes out from the blossoming shore;
And the meadows are greening, as if
They never were green before.
One day I stood in our yard, spellbound by the phenomenon of an approaching storm. Overhead there were some stormy clouds, but not far to the west this giant circle of cloud hovered, overshadowing many miles of land beneath it. The outer edges were lumpy and white like cumulus clouds usually are, yet a clearly defined ring, quite apart from the sky around it. And there it hung, the whole mass slowly turning, like I imagine a giant hurricane would.
I ‘d never seen the likes, so told my husband about it and he found a description of a supercell cloud. Yes, this is what it was. The precursor of storms, hail, even tornadoes. Thankfully it didn’t move over our area. I searched for an image that shows a supercell like I saw and was glad to find this one, posted by David Mark on Pixabay…
Christine's Collection 
We had a weird “storm” here yesterday, lasted about 15 minutes. It was extremely window, just a spattering of rain, and then calm again. Later, I stepped outside to get our mail and there was a huge bank of clouds to the east. Looked like a range of fluffy mountains, spread all across the horizon. Otherwise, clear blue skies!
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Interesting. Clouds can be so fascinating! I guess you folks even get the tail end of hurricanes now and then?
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Oh, yes. Hurricane Sandy was 10 or 11 years ago, and the “tail” wiped out a big tree in our front yard. Came within inches of crashing into power lines. Usually it’s just abnormal wind and rain, but that one was really scary!
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I love those clouds. Out there in the Big Empty in summer wow…
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Thanks for your comment. We have unlimited sky vision here in the summer, too, and see all kinds of puffs and swirls.
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it’s great, isn’t it!
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Oh yes, Especially for painters.
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I’ve realized I mostly paint skies.
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A supercell cloud. I’ve never seen one but I’d really love to, even if it does mean I’m due a battering from a storm.
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Perhaps you’re living too near the ocean? Seems there has to be a large warm land mass underneath the cloud system. I’m glad I got to see this one from afar — and it stayed afar. 🙂
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