Friday, June 20, 2025

Pride Rainbows Over Amherst

Rainbow Sundog Over Amherst 
Photo by Sharon Vardatira

Head in the Clouds Amherst celebrates Amherst’s Inaugural Pride Day on Sunday, 6/22 — honoring love, visibility, and the beauty of living true. Here’s to a town that makes room for all of us, in every color and every kind of sky.

Learn more about this weekend's celebration:
๐Ÿ‘‰ https://www.amherstma.gov/3851/Amherst-Pride

Happy Pride, Amherst! ๐Ÿ’–

#AmherstPride #PrideInTheClouds #HeadInTheCloudsAmherst

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Postcards from Scotland (Cloud Edition)

When the cloud can’t help itself and spills over the top like tea from a too-full cup.
(All photos are of the Scottish Highlands, taken by Brittany Wolcott)
Longtime friend of Head in the Clouds Amherst and frequent calendar contributor Brittany Wolcott recently sent in these spectacular photos from a recent trip to Scotland with her husband, Worth. While the locals insisted it’s “never like this,” Brittany reports day after day of full sun - until the clouds finally made a dramatic entrance.

The first photo looks like a cloud pouring itself right over the crest of the cliffs, as if the two of them were about to walk into the sky. That’s fog, of course - a stratus cloud hugging the earth - but we say it counts, and counts big.

Thank you, Brittany, for sharing these cinematic glimpses of the Highlands. They’re pure atmosphere.

(P.S. If you're traveling and catch a good cloud, send it our way - we love seeing the sky through your lens.) 

A trail, a sun, a wisp of fog—
and the unmistakable feeling that you’ve
stepped into Middle-earth.

Into the cloud he goes... no GPS required.

Fog lounging in the valley like it owns the place.
(And honestly? It kind of does.)

Saturday, June 7, 2025

June's Return

Connecticut River from
Mitch's Marina, Hadley MA
Photo by Stephanie Oates (Stunning Images Photography, LLC)

There’s a hush in this one - a kind of radiant stillness just before the night takes over. This featured photo for June in the Head in the Clouds Amherst 2025 Wall Calendar is a rare night image, and that alone sets it apart. Taken by Stephanie Oates of Stunning Images Photography, it catches the precise moment when color refuses to leave quietly, flaring one last time across the sky and the Connecticut River below.

“My Dad used to dock our speed boat here in the 70’s,” Stephanie writes. “So, it was capturing an old memory in a new light...pun intended. It was beautiful beyond words.”

June begins summer, yes - but it also brings Summer Solstice, after which the days grow shorter. This photo leans right into that contradiction: the longest light, already slipping toward darkness. The edges of the clouds still burn with the sun’s final brushstrokes, while the planet turns, indifferent and dazzling.

Stephanie’s image doesn’t just show us the scene. It reminds us how memory and motion can converge. A return, and a letting go. The season, turning.

Thank you, Stephanie, for capturing that threshold.

Friday, May 16, 2025

Exciting News from Head in the Clouds Amherst!

Sunset over Simple Gifts Farm, North Amherst MA
Photo by Sharon Vardatira
For over a decade, I’ve had the joy of sharing the beauty of Amherst and the Pioneer Valley through our annual "Head in the Clouds Amherst" wall calendars, featuring stunning work by local photographers. Next year, 2026, will mark our 12th edition, and after much thought, I’ve decided to do something a little different to celebrate this milestone.
Instead of issuing a call for new photo submissions, the 2026 calendar will feature a "best of" collection – showcasing some of our most-loved images from past years. It’s an opportunity to celebrate everything we’ve built together over the years and wrap up this chapter of the calendar project.
I want to be clear: ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—น๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—”๐—บ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ป’๐˜ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜†๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ. The decision to step back from producing a new calendar each year will allow me to focus more on what originally inspired this page – cloudspotting. Moving forward, I’m excited to dedicate more energy to building our community and creating new opportunities for us all to share our photos, thoughts, and experiences around the skies we love so much.
A quick note: ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น "๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—น๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—”๐—บ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜" ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ, but this shift in focus is about embracing new ways of connecting and sharing our love for clouds and the natural world all around us. Thank you for your continued support, and for being part of this special community. Let’s make this final calendar year one to remember as we look forward to our next chapter of cloudspotting!
๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ "๐—•๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ" ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ.

About the photo: "Sunset over Simple Gifts Farm" in North Amherst was the featured photo for November in our 2015 calendar. As with all our calendars, the 2026 "best of" collection will showcase photographs taken over the years by 12 different Pioneer Valley residents and visitors.

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Poets in Dialogue (in May)

Poetic Dialogue silhouettes of Emily Dickinson & Robert Frost, Amherst
Photo by Mindy Domb

Here we are in May, one of the most delightful months in Amherst and the surrounding area. Flowering trees and bushes remind us that colorful foliage is not exclusive to the fall, and warmer weather heralds graduations across the area, dining on patios and porches, long hikes, and leisurely afternoons spent watching the clouds drift by overhead. This image of the Poetic Dialogue silhouettes of Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost in downtown Amherst was captured by Mindy Domb. Chosen for its embodiment of spring's spirit, this is the featured photo for May in the 2025 Head in the Clouds Amherst wall calendar.

As Mindy reflected, “I was walking in downtown Amherst and the light captured the scene in such a way that it made me think of the joys of spring and connecting with one another in conversation.”

Monday, April 21, 2025

Dreams of spring

University of Massachusetts Amherst - College of Education
Photo by Steven D. Brewer


la matena lum’ 

ruฤigas la burฤonojn…

revoj de l’ printemp’

 

the morning light 

reddens the buds...

dreams of spring 

                                                    - by Steven D. Brewer, Senokulvitre

This extraordinary dawn over UMass Amherst - crowned with full-sky pink altocumulus clouds - was captured by Steven D. Brewer. This is the featured photo for April in our 2025 Head in the Clouds Amherst wall calendar. Steven also penned this most apropos haiku for his photo - in Esperanto, with the English translation. To experience more haiku in Esperanto, search online for Steven's book, Senokulvitre.

While Altocumulus clouds are always a favorite among cloudspotters, they can become downright glorious at sunrise and sunset, especially when illuminated from underneath by a low-hanging sun. Pink altocumulus clouds at sunset or sunrise occur because of the way light interacts with these mid-level clouds and the atmosphere.

Saturday, April 12, 2025

April (Snow) Showers

Backyard in North Amherst, April 12
Photo by Sharon Vardatira

Good morning, April! If you were hoping for photos of daffodils and crocuses, have patience. That bush on the left bedecked with snow will be resplendent with lilacs in just a month. (And as for the crocuses and daffodils, they are there too, just under the snow.)

Sunday, March 2, 2025

One of those March days...

The Wedding Tree, Hampshire College Campus, Amherst MA - Photo by Jim Patten
๐‘ฐ๐’• ๐’˜๐’‚๐’” ๐’๐’๐’† ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’๐’”๐’† ๐‘ด๐’‚๐’“๐’„๐’‰ ๐’…๐’‚๐’š๐’” ๐’˜๐’‰๐’†๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’”๐’–๐’ ๐’”๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’†๐’” ๐’‰๐’๐’• ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’˜๐’Š๐’๐’… ๐’ƒ๐’๐’๐’˜๐’” ๐’„๐’๐’๐’…: ๐’˜๐’‰๐’†๐’ ๐’Š๐’• ๐’Š๐’” ๐’”๐’–๐’Ž๐’Ž๐’†๐’“ ๐’Š๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’๐’Š๐’ˆ๐’‰๐’•, ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’˜๐’Š๐’๐’•๐’†๐’“ ๐’Š๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’”๐’‰๐’‚๐’…๐’†.

                                                        - Charles Dickens, ๐บ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐ธ๐‘ฅ๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ 

Before the flowers and (mostly) after the snow, early spring in the Valley can be challenging to capture. Luckily for us, James (Jim) Patten saw the potential in this starkly beautiful scene, which is the featured photo for March in the 2025 Head in the Clouds Amherst wall calendar. Remembering that day, Jim commented, “Walking to the Red Barn with my manager for a celebration…. It was Cold, Crisp and Sunny.” In other words, it was a lot like today outside.

Beyond the field in the foreground is the Wedding Tree on the Hampshire College campus, with the Holyoke Range in the distance. And above it all, white puffy cumulus clouds. Observant cloudspotters will also notice less common lenticular clouds (stacked spirals) to the far left of the photo.

Lenticular clouds, which have been mistaken for flying saucers, are usually caused by a moist airstream flowing over raised ground, such as a hill or mountain peak. When the airstream contains layers of moist air separated by drier air, a stacked formation can appear, as seen here.

Spring may be in the air at the moment, but March can also whip us back into deep winter – after all, the “Blizzard of 1888” (one for the record-books in Amherst and most of New England), struck on March 11. It snowed for two nights and a day, leaving snowdrifts as high as 50 feet deep! 

Friday, February 7, 2025

The far side of Puffer's

Puffer's Pond, North Amherst
Photo by Josh Wolfsun

A skin of ice on Puffer’s Pond, dark water below, steely grey clouds above, and no one anywhere in sight – this striking image, which could have been taken today, is the featured photo for February in our 2025 Head in the Clouds Amherst wall calendar. Josh Wolfsun recalls the afternoon he captured this scene: “As I made my way to the far side of Puffer’s, I snapped this last photo and put the camera away to spare my freezing fingers - and to enjoy the echoing quiet that surrounded the frozen water.”

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Clouds from Space

This cloudy extraterrestrial view of the earth was captured in 2017
from the International Space Station by European Space Agency (ESA)
astronaut Paolo Nespoli.

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ต, ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ, ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป. ๐—œ๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ. ๐—” ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ. ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜„๐—ฒ’๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐˜‚๐—ฝ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ, ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ: ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ฒ. ๐—œ๐—ณ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ด๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ, ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ-๐˜๐—ผ-๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ-๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฒ, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ด๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐˜†, ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฏ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—น ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜† ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜.

                                            ~ Samantha Harvey, ๐˜–๐‘Ÿ๐˜ฃ๐‘–๐˜ต๐‘Ž๐˜ญ: ๐ด ๐‘๐˜ฐ๐‘ฃ๐˜ฆ๐‘™

Wishing all cloudspotters everywhere a new year full of wonder and beauty. ๐ŸŒค️☁️๐ŸŒฅ️๐ŸŒค️☀️๐ŸŒˆ๐Ÿ’ซ