June 17, 2026 | Mission, Kansas

Beneath a Ceiling of Clouds

Today’s sky felt caught between two moods.

The morning began under brilliant blue skies, with sunlight spilling across the landscape and only a few scattered clouds drifting overhead. By afternoon, the sky had transformed into a vast quilt of billowing clouds stretching from horizon to horizon.

From a weather perspective, today is a Weather Aware Day, with a Level 2 of 5 risk for severe storms later this afternoon and evening. The atmosphere has enough energy to support strong thunderstorms if conditions come together in the right way.

Yet standing beneath these clouds, it is difficult not to see something more than a forecast.

The sky looked layered and endless, like a floating mountain range suspended above the earth. Sunlight slipped through gaps in the cloud deck, painting bright patches among the shadows. Every cloud seemed to have its own shape, its own story, its own destination.

That is what keeps drawing me back to the sky.

Part of me watches for the weather.

The other part wanders through the clouds, imagining distant kingdoms, hidden seas, and worlds that only exist for a moment before the wind carries them away.

Today, both parts were looking up.

☁️