When I peered through the window just after sunset, I focused at once on a shapely but lonely cloud. Lit by the sun from below, it stood out in contrast to the purple clouds in the background. “Nuclear from the left,” it flashed through my mind nearly forty years after my military training, most of which bordered on idiocy of this ilk. I looked at the cloud a bit more carefully to see whether it was growing or not. I simmered down soon enough, but my next thought was disconcerting nonetheless: will I have the pleasure of seeing “nuclear” from either the left or the right in my remaining years? God only knows, but chances are that I would not be surprised very much if the distant cloud kept growing at a clip. True to my military training, I would immediately duck under the window. Phew!