Dueling Storm Clouds

Loud thunder rumbles
within dark storm clouds
dueling over the last piece
of summer blue sky.    ~ms
Dueling-Clouds
When I looked out of my kitchen window and saw two dark clouds arguing with each other, I immediately grabbed my camera and went out onto the back porch.  I didn’t stop to think that going outside at this point might not be a good idea, even though I could hear thunder and see lightning striking on the horizon.

Such a fascinating sky! Both clouds had very distinct faces and neither one of them were happy. As they continued to push, shove, yell, and call each other names, their eyes floated together and became mysteriously connected.
Dueling-Clouds_2
Uh-oh!
I watched nervously as the angry storm clouds began to merge into one extremely irritated demon. The wind understood exactly what was happening and picked up speed in anticipation.
Oh no!
Dueling-Clouds-Unite
The next clap of thunder was so loud, I ran back into my house as quickly as I could. However, before I was able to completely shut the back door, Mother Nature decided to take my picture with a brilliant flash of lightning.  I’m not sure, but I think my mouth was open.

About Mary Strong-Spaid

You can find me any time wandering around in my own mind gathering thoughts.
This entry was posted in clouds, Nature, photography, Poetry, Summer, Thunderstorms and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

41 Responses to Dueling Storm Clouds

  1. pkphotooftheday says:

    Beautiful!

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    • A spooky kind of beautiful!
      I have always loved the awesome raw power of a thunderstorm.
      However, I’ve never seen a tornado yet—-and I would like to keep it that way. 😉

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      • pkphotooftheday says:

        I haven’t experienced a tornado either, but I’m going to Colorado next month and hope to try to photograph lightening. It seems they always have lightening there. I’ve been following Bo’s blog
        boulder county.wordpress.com and his lightening strike photos are amazing. Maybe I should ask him for any safety tips he might have :-). Keep making those nice shots! Pam

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  2. Alli Farkas says:

    Not sure what part of the world you’re observing from, but from my view here in the Midwest it’s quite likely we’ll see a lot more dramatic cloud formations like this before the weather finally (maybe) settles down for a long winter’s nap. Keep that camera handy!

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    • I am on the East coast….in Virginia. We usually don’t get the same amount of big storms that you get in the Midwest. In the past, storm-related things like tornadoes have been few and far between. However it seems that, in the past couple years, tornadoes have been seen a little more than usual.

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  3. Leaves me thrilled. the heat of the argument and the ensuing pour!

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  4. arlene says:

    I love taking pictures of clouds, sometimes they look threatening but still lovely 🙂

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  5. You’ve caught the awesome power of nature in a way that shows its beautiful side, well done!

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  6. Very dramatic clouds! So you were lucky to get in before that lightning got you!! 😉

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  7. montucky says:

    I just love weather like that, but as hot and dry as it is here, lightning will not be good.

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  8. wisreader says:

    Love this! Especially the twist at the end: Mother Nature snapping a pic of you.

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    • ….And alas, I was not photo-ready. I was kind of wet because it was starting to rain, my hair was every which way (windblown), and my mouth was probably open. I hope Mother Nature doesn’t file that photo of me in some sort of eternal database. Sigh….I guess it would be good for a universal laugh, though.

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  9. LadyBlueRose's Thoughts Into Words says:

    I love your photos!, and the words you gave voice to the two arguing are perfect as their faces are very clear..I hadn’t thought of their eyebrows merging but they are…!
    Thank you for sharing you and your world …
    Take Care…You Matter…
    )0(
    maryrose

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  10. Loredana Isabella Crupi says:

    Marvellous metaphor!….I think those two clouds have made their way to Melbourne, Australia! They’ve been causing a raucous here…:-)

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  11. laurie27wsmith says:

    It’s easy to get caught up in nature’s splendour Mary, great pics.
    Laurie.

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  12. Very interesting captures.

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    • Thanks Andrew! Jim Morrison and the Doors used to sing a song (People are Strange) that had these lyrics:
      “When you’re strange, faces come out of the rain
      When you’re strange no one remembers your name
      When you’re strange, when you’re strange…..”
      ~~~~~Ummm…Oh no. I saw faces coming out of the clouds and then it rained. Close enough, these interesting captures! Does this mean I am a wee bit strange? 🙂

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      • Well…you’re not the only one that’s strange then! I have a cloud shot I am posting tomorrow, I don’t see a face in it instead it looks like an old locomotive with puffs of smoke rising from its stack.

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        • A locomotive in the sky…how creative! I love it.
          Creative souls bring a “strange” magic into an otherwise mundane world, because they are willing to step outside of the norm and look at reality in a different light.
          Walking on the edge between the real and unreal (in the world but not of it) is quite a balancing act! Oddly enough, there is a song called “Train in the Sky”….so in honor of your cloud locomotive (which I just saw on your blog), here is the You Tube link to the song:

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  13. Pingback: Locomotive in the Cloud? | PhotoACE

  14. Gorgeous photos! I love a good thunder storm.

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  15. Great images…I see the faces of the “dueling” clouds clearly! I love thunderstorms and rainy days, and we are getting plenty of both this summer in Ontario!

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  16. Mary, not only are the photos spectacular captures of that brooding sky, but your story is so wonderfully written – I went back and reread it, just so I could enjoy it all over again 🙂

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    • Thanks Stacy!
      I was so interested in those cloud faces though, I forgot about the fact that it was a real live (very close by) thunderstorm.
      Lucky the lightning took my photo with a flash of bright light and a zoom lens, and didn’t decide to actually shake may hand!

      Liked by 1 person

  17. Alexis says:

    Wonderful nature display, but often it can be frightening .

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  18. fantastic pix and narrative Mary! you should get them published. All the best for everything.

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