Cloud-shapes in the Sand
Wednesday, 8th July 2009 by Evan Brammer
Remember lying on the grass when you were younger, staring up at the sky, allowing your imagination to twist and shape the clouds into an elephant being chased by a mouse or a dragon being slain by a cat? Now what if you were the clouds looking down at the earth? What would your imagination let you see then? Let's find out.
Desert week may be over, but that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun in the sand. We will warn you though, you will need to pick up the phone and call the kid in you and have 'em cover and play. You're gonna need their help today.
Don't guess right away; let your mind rotate the image a little. What do you see?
If you saw the lower part of a man's face, you saw what we did. The great winds of Algeria have shaped the sand of the Issaouane Erg into a sad man's face.
His is not the only face we found though. With a softly-curved-upwards nose and the line of the artist's chisel surrounding the mouth, can you see the face of this little wooden girl?
There seems to be a lot of heads in the desert! Perhaps it is the hand of God doodling in the sand as we've found yet another one.
A westward facing goat's head, maybe? What do you think it is?
Head's are not the only thing to be seen in the sand though. Take a look at this shape.
The Dr. Seuss-ness of this tree stands out clearly to me. There's no hatted cat to be seen, but let your imagination see the tree in purple and green.
All of these great sand shifted shapes come compliments of some high resolution imagery in the middle of the Saharan desert. Zooming out on this section it looks like the pockmarked face of a teenager in puberty.
Sadly, the high-res imagery is only available for a small area. The lower-res imagery surrounding the high-res rectangle looks like something you saw under the microscope in biology class. Though a contradiction in terms, we have micro-organisms in the desert.
Well, we hope you've enjoyed this little adventure into the sand. We've tried to keep it light and fun. Yes, we could have gone all serious on you and pointed out what seems to be a giant pool, enormous piece of tin foil, or a really very odd alien landmark, but every now and again isn't it nice just to float in the clouds and gaze at the desert formations?
Okay, we'll leave you with one more. This time we're not going to tell you what it is though. It's your turn. Take a look at this mystery shape, let your imagination run away with you, and leave your thoughts below.
About the author
Evan is a full time teacher / father / husband / visionary / blogger. He currently co-writes LosingtheWorld.com with his wife, Jessica Brammer. As well, I run edTech's Book; a tutorial site, teaching teacher's to use technology..
I see a bearded man with big lips drinking out of a small, round bottle.
Aren’t star dunes are so cool?! These shapes form from constant changing wind direction. Thanks for the post!
I see a genie coming out of a bottle 🙂
There’s settlements out there. I even see an airstrip. Tairrist training camps? Nomadic aviators? Too bad the outline maps are not as detailed as the satellite photos.
I am sorry, but that first picture is clearly an image of the Flying Spagetti Monster, creater of life as we know it.