Eric,

Look up!

I know, it's pretty impolite of me. I assure you it is nothing
personal against you in particular. Many, many pilots share your
opinion. I guess I find it very frustrating to have to explain the
obvious. Or. more to the point, to have to argue for the sake of the
obvious. My preference would be to move to the next level, to discuss
what the real effects of vorticity are on soaring flight. Instead, we
wallow about trying to apply models to decide the truth about
something easily observed.

Granted, our attention spans are short, but spending a half hour on
your back watching the development of a cumulus cloud can be very
instructive. But you needn't even do this if you are observant during
your climbs. You will note that around the edges of the cloud you'll
occasionally see vortices forming when the light hits them right. Or
if there is clag below cloud base, it will often have a discernable
rotation. When observed, they often herald localized cores that can be
exploited. More than once I've noted vorticity on the edege of a large
cloud, shifted my circle to it, and been rewarded with much improved
lift.

Spending some time on your back, you will observe that not only are
there localized vortices, but that the entire system slowly rotates.
Sometimes it's easier to see this than at others. However, patience is
required since the rotation is very slow, but nontheless discernable.
Best to start with a wisp and watch its full development. Choose one
as close to directly overhead as possible. The closer your view to
directly beneath, the more obvious the cloud rotation becomes.

I was hoping that the accelerated cloudscapes in Going the Distance
would make this obvious, but most of the clouds are shot at very low
angles. This makes discering the rotation more difficult as it is
overpowered by the vertical development and dissipation of the cloud.
By viewing from directly beneath, you won't be distracted by this.

Perhaps someone with the appropriate video recording capabilities
could do some time lapse photography and offer it up for review.