By MONTE DUTTON

Oh, what clouds.

Life is starting to reverse. When I was a kid, I lied on my back in the front yard and stared at the clouds, seeing the shapes of pawing lions, pretty girls and spaceships briefly in their perpetually changing shapes.

Now I’m at it again, though not on my back. I love clouds again. And trees. Tall, tall pines. Majestic oaks, elms and maples.

In York, on Friday night, Laurens played at 6, and Clinton played at 9. In between were two other halves. Four scrimmages. Eight teams. Four halves. Eight quarters. A transient crowd of ins and outs wearing different colors.

While the Providences of Charlotte, regular and Day, were playing Westwood and Clover, I was mainly sitting under a pop-up tent in one end zone, chatting with John Clayton, Mike Hughes, Linsey Bell and lots of referees, one of whom was former Furman football standout Billy Stockdale.

It was raining. When it stopped, the gathering dispersed, and I moved to some bleachers a short distance away – I wonder if York puts its band there – and chatted some more, but I was sort of preoccupied staring at the magnificent thunderhead beyond the opposite end zone.

I took a photo of it. John did, too. I saw his on Instagram.

Friday night was the first long one. I let the photo galleries (laurenscountysports on Instagram) wait, but culling the herd of photos, writing the story and laying it out kept me up till 3 a.m. I got up at about 8:30, sipped coffee and got presentable in time to go on the radio and talk to Buddy Bridges about Clinton High football history at 10.

To take Willie Nelson in a different context, after taking several readings, I was surprised to find my mind still fairly sound.

Not much on TV – certainly not The Gene Autry Show – is worse than an NFL exhibition game. The Panthers’ announcers kept saying, in the midst of being beaten by the Jets 27-0, it meant nothing, so, I thought, why bother? If Carolina had won, 27-0, they would have said it meant a lot.

When I wrote the occasional column on the Panthers back in my newspaper days, Steve Smith was the star receiver. Now he’s the exhibition-game TV analyst. He’s lost a lot of fire in the booth, which is, all in all, a good thing.

One team’s exhibition games must matter. The Baltimore Ravens have won 24 in a row.

I went over to Presbyterian College to watch Steve Englehart’s Blue Hose scrimmage a while and would have stayed longer had it not been for the possibility that Dorothy and Toto might blow over from Kansas en route to Oz. I didn’t see any lightning and thunder, and it didn’t rain much while I was driving around listening to the Panthers announcers rationalizing. I was watching baseball by the time rain started pelting the roof.

More great clouds, though.

All in all, I’m sanguine about the Blue Hose. They’ll be better and not just because they couldn’t be worse. It’s a long climb back from Kevin Kelley, and the going’s got to be easier without Rob Acunto looming. As hard as this is to believe, I’ve seen new AD Dee Nichols smile many times, and that’s bound to count for something.

Laurens and Clinton are both adopting “themes” for their student bodies at football games. On Sept. 25, the Raiders are going to masquerade as angels. They’re playing Red Devils. Get it?

In addition to lifelong friend Chuck Waldron, David Holly is being inducted into the S.C. Tennis Hall of Fame. David analyzed Furman basketball with Bob Juback on the radio back when we were a lot younger and Paladin basketball was a lot worse. The road trips were fun, though.

This season’s Furman men’s basketball team breezed through the Bahamas, and I’ve seen scores, highlights and leisurely videos on the beach. PC’s team has allegedly been playing in Italy. Apparently, word is being sent home via steamship. I wonder if the Blue Hose are lodged in Cognito, that famed Neapolitan sanctuary.

Countdown to kickoffs, as of Sunday. Red Devils, Raiders and Crusaders are five nights away. Saints are either 12 or 19 away, depending on the latest social-media post. Paladins are 18 nights away, Blue Hose 20.

One more thing. As nice a young man as Laurens County possesses is now a United States citizen. Former Laurens kicker Roberto Luna, who never failed to exchange greetings on the sidelines, took the pledge on Friday. America is a tiny bit better off.

The season’s upon us. Help me cover the county — and my beloved Furman Paladins — by sending a check to DHK Sports, P.O. Box 768, Clinton, S.C. 29325 or becoming a patron here. Support our advertisers and tell them we sent you. It’s going to be fun. Help make it funner.

I also make ends meet with the books I write. There’s something here to strike your fancy.