This weekend has been a meditation on clouds from below, above, and even amidst. The slightly gloomy conditions indicate strong sources of thermic lift, which I took advantage of on yesterday's flight over the city of York. The relatively calm passage of the clouds belie the energies at play, especially near the cloud-base itself - I admit that I remain mildly daunted, even now, when the variometer is beeping away and I'm being drawn up so strongly, jostled in my seat, with only a couple of hundred feet between me and the ominously dark, cloudy ceiling above the canopy. It is a privilege to take flight. From another standpoint, the conditions have been particularly good for radio reception, relatively free of noise, allowing this morning's NOAA-15 sounding, from a fairly low passing angle, to be surprisingly good. A good vantage on the early light over the Atlantic, from a satellite I now quite rarely get the chance to listen to.