På min vej igennem bogen Caught by the River er jeg stødt på navnet Gavin Pretor-Pinney, der på side 158, hvor jeg indtil videre er nået til, indtager en klar førsteplads, som den hidtil mest velformulerede bidragsyder til Caught by the River. Min begejstring for ham fik mig til at bestille hans bog The Cloudspotter's Guide, der nu ligger på spisebordet og gør sig til, i håb om at rykke foran i køen af ventende bøger.

Udover at være forfatter, er Gavin Pretor-Pinney er stifter af The Cloud Appreciation Society, hvis manifest jeg nu har taget til mig..

We believe that clouds are unjustly maligned and that life would be immeasurably poorer without them. We think that they are Nature’s poetry, and the most egalitarian of her displays, since everyone can have a fantastic view of them. We pledge to fight ‘blue-sky thinking’ wherever we find it. Life would be dull if we had to look up at cloudless monotony day after day. We seek to remind people that clouds are expressions of the atmosphere’s moods, and can be read like those of a person’s countenance. Clouds are so commonplace that their beauty is often overlooked. They are for dreamers and their contemplation benefits the soul. Indeed, all who consider the shapes they see in them will save on psychoanalysis bills.

.. med den konsekvens, at jeg nu for første gang i mit voksenliv er blevet foreningsmedlem. Jeg har meldt mig under fanerne, jeg har købt bogen, jeg har betalt gebyret og jeg er klar til fra nu at gå med næsen i sky.