Rain Clouds and Dark Storm Clouds

—and Some Cool Funky Clouds

For my first Perpetual Journal entry of 2026, I featured rain clouds hovering between our house and the Catalina Mountains.

Perpetual Journal, week of Jan. 1-7: Rain Clouds and Catalinas (2026)

I was especially happy with how this art turned out, because this is exactly how these clouds looked! I’m sure you’re thinking, “Gee, Paula, how did you make those clouds look so misty and diaphanous?” Well, thank you for asking! 🤗

I painted the mountains with blue watercolor first, and then before the watercolor dried, I tapped on the paper with a crumpled up dry paper towel, where I wanted the clouds to be. The paper towel sucked up the watercolor from the paper, leaving just the (unpainted) white of the paper. After the blue watercolor dried, I followed the same process with gray watercolor for the sky, using another crumpled up dry paper towel to create the clouds in the sky.

Dark Storm Clouds

As much as I love immersing myself in the beauty and wonder of our natural world, I can’t ignore what’s going on with our own species as well. Here in the U.S. we’ve had, metaphorically speaking, dark stormy weather the past year and especially the past month, when we’ve witnessed state sanctioned reprehensible acts ranging from profound disrespect to homicide and everything in between.

I believe the perpetrators of these deplorable actions don’t understand something that was the #1 take-home message I learned from getting a degree in Ecology: all living things are interconnected, so what affects one can affect all. Those of us who understand this principle of interconnectedness understand that whether you live in Minneapolis or far away, everything that has happened there (and in other locations) affects all of us.

Millions of people in the U.S. have channeled the grief and anger we’ve felt in response to these events, into peaceful action meant to bring about positive change in our country. If you, too, are taking positive action, thank you!

If you haven’t yet taken positive action in response to these events, I encourage you to join those of us who have. Taking positive action can help both the state of the world as well as your own mental state.

If you don’t know what to do or where to start, I suggest looking at the Action Center. Just choose any recent post and scroll down to the What Can You Do section. You’ll see lots of suggestions & helpful links, so you can select whatever works for you, whether it’s calling/emailing your elected officials to voice your opinion, taking part in peaceful protests & vigils, registering voters, writing letters & postcards to voters, or donating time & money to organizations in your community as well as to civil rights & advocacy organizations. The possibilities for positive action are endless!

Some Cool Funky Clouds

And now, for those funky clouds! In late January Hubby & I saw these weird, wavy clouds here in Tucson. Are these cool or what? 😃

Gray wavy clouds, Tucson, AZ

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Over the past couple of months Hubby & I watched the eight Mission: Impossible movies. The last two, Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning, were especially exciting! If you enjoy adventure/spy movies, I highly recommend these movies!

This quote from one of the movie characters stood out to me as very timely:

"Any hope for a better future comes from willing that future into being. A future reflecting the measure of good within ourselves. And all that is good inside us is measured by the good we do for others. We all share the same fate — the same future. The sum of our infinite choices. One such future is built on kindness, trust, and mutual understanding, should we choose to accept it. Driving without question towards a light we cannot see. Not just for those we hold close, but for those we'll never meet."

- Luther Stickell, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

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Thank you for being here! I appreciate it. See you next week!

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