Holy Mackerel! Look at Those Altocumulus Clouds!

11 CommentsMonday • October 12, 2009 • by michelle

Yesterday while walking the dogs, I looked up and saw this:

My mom’s friend Kitty (she of the unique tea strainer and adorable heart bracelet) once told my mom these were “mackerel clouds” because they resembled the fish’s scales. Of course we both thought this was an old wives’ tales, and maybe it is, but it also made Wikipedia, so there.

They’re actually called “altocumulus” clouds (thus the title of the post), just in case you didn’t remember from elementary school science class.

So I smiled as I photographed the sky, thinking it was rather fitting that these clouds would be over me this week. Kitty’s 87th birthday would have been on Saturday the 17th–a day before mine–but she passed away two years ago.

The mackerel clouds, however, will always live on–and always make me think of our Kitty.

Had you ever heard of mackerel clouds?

Do you have strange things that remind you someone special?