Cloud contrails

During the week, Eric takes John to school in the morning. This brief (~15 minutes) drive has, somewhat surprisingly, turned into a daily dose of education for John, as he and Eric discuss things they see on the road or perhaps talk about issues at school or in the neighborhood.

Recent examples of "learning by observation" have included learning about "One Way" signs, "No U-Turn" signs, "No Parking" signs (which John initially decided meant "No P-Turn"), traffic, lane changes, and such. John and Eric have also talked about contrails, which John initially identified as "long straight clouds."

Now that he's learned of contrails, John sees them often. It helps that we have a large and busy airport just a few miles away. As cooler weather approaches, seeing these contrails is becoming a common experience. This morning, however, he noticed something new in the sky. The clouds up above were dark grey, but thin and strung out. An odd sight, to be sure, but it took John's unique perspective to describe them.

"Look, Dad, cloud contrails!"