My favourite morning on Dartmoor is one where the cloud is hanging so low that I'm actually inside it. Like a hug from nature as I head out into the world. Being inside a cloud is somehow different from fog, but fog is a close approximation. In summer, the clouds are made and remade continually, but winter clouds are without shape. Grey as far as the eye can see.
Your prompts for this week
Monday
What colour is the sky today? Specifically. Pretend you work for Farrow and Ball. What would you name the colour of today's sky?
Tuesday
If today is grey outside, is it a warm grey or a cool grey? Is it definitely a black-and-white grey like a wagtail; or perhaps just a little warmer, like the cheek of a house sparrow? If it were on a colour saturation chart, what % of black would it be?
Wednesday
How close is the sky today? Some days the clouds are quite close. A low cloud. Some days it seems like there are no clouds at all – gallery white painted high in the sky. On a sunny day, does the sky feel like it's further away?
Thursday
While you're out walking, today, invent a new naming system for the sky. Perhaps one based on colour, or fluffiness, or the number of dog-shaped-clouds you observed. If there are some particularly fun rules that you create, you might want to jot them down.
Friday
Have you ever noticed that some rain is wetter? The drops fall more slowly and seem to be stickier. Form an illogical reason for why this might be. Be a creator of myths and legends for why the sky doesn't always seem to cry the same way.
Saturday
I used to play a game with my friend Dave called "Dartmoor or wall". I'd send him either a photo of a wall in our house, or the Dartmoor sky and he'd have to guess which it was. Remarkably, he wasn't always right. Play this game with someone you know.
Sunday
Have you heard the expression, "One cloud feels lonely"? What about the clouds in your sky? Do they have friends? Are they alone? What about the clouds that are formed from the passing planes? Do they say "hello" as they blow by?
Observations for the week
Somehow, clouds didn't have names until 1803 when Luke Howard in, Essay of the Modifications of Clouds, divided clouds into four basic categories: cirrus, cumulus, stratus, and nimbus. The Cloud Appreciation Society has a great library of clouds where you can learn their names: https://cloudappreciationsociety.org/cloud-library/.
The second time around
This week we look up, again. Where I live, on Dartmoor, we are blessed with the good fortune of big skies. Very big skies. Except when it's misty, and then the world around shrinks to a space no greater than a few paces in all directions. I love the big skies, and the closeness of the misty ones. It would be unprofessional to choose a favourite.
Today on my walk I saw a pied wagtail that perfectly matched the thick mists around me. The only two beings out on the moor were myself and the little bobbing bird. (Although I'm sure the sheep and cows I would be jealous to hear me say this.) Everything about the greyness of the day matched the book I've been listening to whilst out on my walks, Jane Eyre. At seventeen hours of listening time, it's been a wonderful companion through the darkest days of the year.
Things you might like to read
The Waves by Virginia Woolf. Trigger warning: grief and loss, but I also found the descriptive language calming. I read this book as an audiobook while I was out walking. Do you listen to audiobooks or podcasts when you're out walking?
My second reading suggestion is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I've been listening to it as an audiobook. It was recommended by Ursula LeGuin in Steering the Craft, which I'm also reading at the moment.