Forms of Water: Ice, Snow, Clouds, Water

Flying out of Anchorage always offers amazing views of nature.  As we headed south to gather we family over Thanksgiving, I took advantage of my window seat.  Clouds played a big role in the dramatic landscapes today.  But when I thought about the post, it came to me it's mostly about different forms of water - ice, snow, clouds, and liquid water itself.





The tide was low so we could see the rivers in the mudflats white with ice.

There were low clouds over Prince William Sound and they flowed into the lower levels of the Chugach mountains offering contrasts of the white of the snow and ice to the white of the clouds.

At this part of Western Prince William Sound, the water is blanketed with clouds.

But then there was a spot where the land blocked the clouds and in Eastern Prince William Sound there was water.  At this point in the year, the sun stays fairly low on the southern horizon all day and it will get a little lower yet by solstice.  So at 11am or so it looked like a sunset picture.

Then we got these great cloudscapes.  Large clouds rising in colonies from the water.  It reminded me of the dramatic clouds of Southeast Asia, though these clouds were small in comparison.



My son gave me a book on clouds for my birthday and I was reading through it the other day and thinking I should bring it along.  In the end I put it off for when I have more time and fewer books already on the todo list.  But the clouds today made me question that decision.

The water surface was covered with interesting patterns.  It looked, from 34,000 feet like neat patterns on a flat surface.  But I'm guessing if I could seem them from the plane, the water was probably fairly choppy

And it was still spectacular as we cross out of Canadian air space into Washington State.

Leaving as frequently as we have the last couple of years - first with my mother and then with the grandkids - means constantly cleaning up the house so it's presentable before the housesitter arrives.