All photographs are by the author except where noted.
This article is dedicated to the memory of his father Milton Gedzelman and his uncle Bert Gedzelman. A brilliant circumhorizontal arc shines through cirrus clouds above Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, in May 1997. But these beautiful and elegant formations are among the most neglected of all clouds. After all, people seldom notice them as they flit by high in the sky. Even though cirrus have a unique, gossamer beauty, they float too high to make us crane our necks and hold our gaze.