For as long as I can remember, I have been captivated by clouds. No doubt this love was greatly enhanced by the fact that I grew up in the American Midwest, where some of the most spectacular cloud formations in the world are the daily norm. Hours upon hours of my childhood and teen years were devoted to lying on the ground or sitting on a high vantage point, watching everything from cotton puffs to monstrous storm cells move overhead.

21.
Lily white, her crown of snow
In curving light her petals grow.
Bird in flight sees her below,
Moved by sight of such a glow.

22. Spring
First won't look like much
but it smells and sounds and feels
like coming alive

23.
“I hope you dance,” whispered Moira
To Neal at their very first ball
“Sweet lass!” he said as he kissed her
They were wed before the next fall.
“I hope you dance,” Cora’s brother
Teased as he saw her big chance
But the man who made eyes at his sister