first they were just clouds
they swelled, swirled, hung very still …
then they broke open

My first thought seeing this cloud over Red Cedar Elementary School in Bluffon, SC was that someone finally stumbled upon that atomic bomb the US Air Force lost over Tybee Island back in the ’50’s.

My second thought was of that Alien spacecraft over Los Angeles in the movie, Independence Day.

Then I thought of the poem, Clouds, by Mary Oliver in her book, Why I Wake Early: New Poems (Beacon Press, Boston, 2005) and I thought that this is, I suppose, just one of the common miracles, a transformation, not a vision, not an answer, not a proof, but I put it there, close against my heart, where the need is, and its serves the purpose.

Clouds by Mary Oliver

All afternoon, sir,
your ambassadors have been turning
into lakes and rivers.
At first they were just clouds, like any other.
Then they swelled and swirled; then they hung very still’
then they broke open. This is, I suppose,
just one of the common miracles,
a transformation, not a vision,
not an answer, not a proof, but I put it
there, close against my heart, where the need is, and its serves

the purpose. I go on, soaked through, my hair
slicked back;
like corn, or wheat, shining and useful.

extreme heat expected
to intensify across
much of the southeast

Extreme heat is expected to intensify across much of the Southeast and Tennessee Valley today, with the most dangerous combination of high temperatures and humidity occurring from Monday through Wednesday. This will lead to a prolonged and extremely hazardous heat wave. Heat levels will become dangerous for anyone without adequate cooling or hydration.

High temperatures will soar into the upper 90s to low 100s, with heat index values (“feels like” temperatures) surpassing 110-115 degrees.

Several major metropolitan areas–including Raleigh, Charlotte, Nashville and Orlando–are expected to face Extreme Heat Risk for multiple days, with over 20 million people impacted at the peak.

Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 247 AM EDT Sun Jul 27 2025

Valid 12Z Sun Jul 27 2025 – 12Z Tue Jul 29 2025 …

Dangerous, long-lasting extreme heat expected across the Southeast this week…

… Severe weather and flash flooding possible for portions of the Upper Midwest, Ohio Valley and Northeast/Mid-Atlantic today…

facing too much or …
facing too little water
or … or … facing both

Based on the passage:

The Nasa researchers produced the updated statistics at the request of the Oxford-based research organisation Global Water Intelligence, whose head, Christopher Gasson, said water companies were in the firing line of climate change – facing too much water or too little water – or both.

He said most water companies were completely unprepared to cope with the changes under way. “This is extremely scary,” he said.

In the article, Nasa data reveals dramatic rise in intensity of weather events by Roger Harrabin