Today dawned clear and cool

As I've been making a record of the weather over the path couple of months, I've noticed that there are fewer clouds earlier in the day. Clouds seem to move in about 11 am and then build up over the afternoon. I think this has to do with the rising temperature during the daylight hours.


These little cumulus clouds were the the early arrivals at about 10 am in the east. They were blowing northeast on this gusty, clear and cool day. It is a very Fallish day with blue skies, cool temperatures (about 60 degrees F) and red, yellow and orange leaves swirling in the gusts.


I've recently found a wonderful book by Kurt Badt called John Constable's Clouds. Written in German, but translated by Stanley Godman and published in English in 1950, this book seems to reflect the fascination I feel for Constable's cloud studies. Kurt Badt was a German art historian born in 1890 in Berlin who died in 1973 of suicide while despondent. He was interested in the meaning of color in paintings and questioned deeply rooted principles of art history. This charming and insightful book will prove a good companion to my year of Constable.