Friday, 20 July 2012

I've looked at clouds from both sides now

Well here we are in a very anonymous but clean hotel somewhere near Gatwick Airport. Our holiday has officially begun. Grandma is next door to us in a double room, and the three boys are on the other side of us also in a double bedroom which will be a bit cosy! Of course one of the boys could have shared a bed with Grandma but nobody volunteered. Grandma probably wouldn't have liked to share with one of them either!
On our way south I was struck by some incredibly beautiful clouds that we flew above as we circled round on our approach to the airport. The tops of the clouds were white and looked like fluffy cotton wool; in some places they would rise up in a tower above the rest- James said this was due to thermals underneath them. They were lit by the evening sunshine and looked glorious. Some looked like piles of candy floss, others like feathery angels wings. It struck me how so many beautiful sights like this in the world must go unobserved, like tops of clouds or plants deep in the jungle. I suppose beauty does not depend upon being seen. And how many beautiful sights have I seen that I have been too preoccupied or worried to properly look at? Life and beauty are so fleeting. This made me think of my favourite speech in one of my favourite films, Blade Runner, comes from the android Batty when he is dying and he talks about the memories that will vanish with him. It made such an impression on me that I may well have blogged about it before. He says, "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain..."


No comments:

Post a Comment