#2464 "Singleton Sunrise Morning Cloud"

This is the western sky above Singleton Lake at 8:15 am Tuesday January 26th, 2021. My wife Linda asked what caught my eye. It is not like I have not painted this view before. There are subtleties in the colours and tones of the sky at defy interpretation but I am always up for the challenge. The variations in those colours and tones have a large weather story to tell as well - perhaps as much as the lines and swirls. I used my entire arsenal of blues to recreate what the sky was saying. It was fun and I wonder where the day went looking back at the hours in front of the easel. 

The sky was filled with a classic warm conveyor belt with cirrus Langmuir streaks paralleling the guiding upper jet. The cloud told the weather story. I pointed the fingers of my right hand in the direction of the cloud drift and my thumb pointed downward. My fingers curled anticyclonically. Singleton would be under the anticyclonic companion of the warm conveyor belt. Snow was on the way but it would not be too heavy. The anticyclonic winds were stronger on the dry side of the deformation zone (DZ) and the associated gravity waves were angled downstream. This downstream lateral banding angled along the deformation zone is typically the case. 

The chilly cold conveyor belt at the surface was the other part of the weather puzzle. I could not paint this wind into the oils but I felt it. Northeasterly winds of 10 to 15 knots were moving the minus 7 Celsius air. In spite of the sunshine, the resultant wind chill encouraged me to paint inside with the Singleton Studio wood stove surrounded by my music. The approaching cloud would soon put an end to the sunshine anyway. 

When I was growing up, my Dad told me to “just care about myself” and not worry about the misdeeds of others.  I was taught that one should not profit from crime. Then came Blake Shelton singing from my playlist:

• "Driving down the interstate
• Running thirty minutes late
• Singing Margaritaville and minding my own
• Some foreign car drivin' dude with a road rage attitude
• Pulled up beside me talking on his cell phone
• He started yelling at me like I did something wrong
• He flipped me the bird an' then he was gone
• Some beach Somewhere."

My music playlist is days if not months long but it includes songs like Buffalo Springfield's "Somethings Happening Here", Bruce Cockburn's "People See through You", The Who's " Won't Get Fooled Again", John Mellencamp's "Our Country", Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" and many more. My music playlist also includes songs about how I wish to live including Valdy's "Simple Life", Billy Joel's "Until the Night" and Buddy Holly's "True Loves Way".  Life is a balance best spent surrounded by nature and immersed in the arts - including music.

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