Surprised by Beauty

The snow took me totally by surprise. I am glad I had finished a little snow picture with my art class last week or I wouldn't have had one for my blog. There are few inspirations to draw snow in the house of the brutal sun.
I guess I didn't know about the snow because I was busy trying to understand the "if A then B except when A is not but B is or B is not when the converse of when A is not...." in Asherel's Geometry lesson. We were so busy tying our brain in knots that I didn't see the first flakes fall and hadn't known they were expected until Asherel called out,"It's snowing." I thought it was just an excuse to lift her finger from our Evelyn Wood Speed Reading session, but I glanced up, totally losing what B does when A has to take a bathroom break. It was true. The first little dusts of snow were drifting quietly by the window. I didn't take them seriously, having not read the weather report. Everyone else had already bought their milk and toilet paper, but I had not because I didn't know the snow was coming.
And while we camped in front of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony on television, the snow kept falling. All through the night, it sparkled in the air against the yellow lamplight, falling, falling.....
I piled my ski clothes neatly for the morning, and put my skis in the corner. I prayed the liquid nails I'd used to repair them would hold. This morning, I awoke to a good 4 or 5 inches of snow. Right after breakfast I will ski, and then right after skiing I will do some snow paintings. With all this global warming going on in Charlotte, I seem to need a backlog of winter snow scenes.

And speaking of painting, today is the official opening of the first annual Hollow Creek Farm Kids Art Contest!!!! Details can be found at Hollowcreekfarm.org . This is a bona fide national art contest which means if you are age 18 and under, you could enter and win not only prizes, but satisfaction too, as you can help Hollow Creek Farm with your entry donation which will be used entirely for the care and help of HCF animals. The world renowned judges are experts in their field. Linda Ostrow owns the wonderful jewel of an art gallery tucked away on The Plaza in Charlotte- Queens Gallery (www.thequeensgallery.com ) . Angela Purcell is a devoted volunteer at HCF so knows the animals you will be drawing well, and has artist parents that instilled a deep love and understanding of art in her. And finally (this is the section where there is a huge drum roll and the fans are holding their breath while the older women pass out in anticipation)- the last judge is me. For all of you budding artists that hope to major in art, or just impress potential colleges with achievements on a national level, this is a very good contest to enter. The contest ends May 1 so you have plenty of time to find an HCF adoptable animal you want to immortalize in art.

But about the snow that snuck in here like a thief returning money..... I had been having a bad day. School was not going well for us. I will spare the gorey details but suffice it to say that I was ready to retire from all the perks of being a highly paid and respected home school teacher and join the Foreign Legion. Just as I was ready to pack my bags, the snow started falling. Who can watch snow fall and not feel the talons of despair melt away? My rising blood pressure with an angry spirit had called out like Gideon, "If the Lord is with us, why then
has all this happened to us?" (Judges 6:13.) But then I saw the snow. Flake by flake it fell, collecting slowly to a blanket of soft white covering all the harsh edges of the world. That is how my emotions had built, anger by anger, frustration by frustration..... and the blanket over our home was not one of gentle peace. Oh Lord, give me a heart that falls gently like the snow on my family!

And don't forget to vote for Honeybun. It seems her vote is being sabotaged as her rating keeps going down though she leads in number of votes. Since I have given clear instructions that when you vote you should only click on the 5th gold star to give her the highest rating, I think some devious souls are going in and clicking on the first star, which lowers her rating. So please vote per the instructions below:
just click on this little link below and skip to step 8.
http://tinyurl.com/voteforhoneybun
1. Click on this link:
http://www.petco.com/content/storiesListheartChampion.aspx?bvcategoryid=1-9
2. In upperish right side, select "sort by OLDEST STORIES FIRST"
3. Scroll down to bottom and select page "5".
4. Scroll down to bottom and select page "6".
5. Honeybun is the second story (picture: doge sleeping on pillow,
covered with a blanket. title: A Last Chance Dog.
6. Click on "Read my story and vote"
7. Click on the 5th (rightmost) gold medal (it will say "5 stars" when
you hover over it.)
8. On the Righthand side of the page enter your/an email address and
click the continue button.
9. You will be returned to Honeybun's story page.
10. Close your BROWSER program (not just the window).
11. Repeat steps 1-10.