So the snow came down and down and, yes you’ve guessed it, down. It was the perfect snow day, thick feathery flakes, no wind and relatively mild temperatures. So spending at least part of the day outside was a must. Here is my recipe for happy children on a snowy day (after 3/4 months of snowy days):
Take one garden covered in snow
Several children
Cups of water with food colouring in
Paint brushes and plastic ‘buckets’
Add all of these ingredients together and with minimal direction you get:
We adults stood back and watched as the children gleefully made our snowy garden into their artistic endeavour. Each one embarked upon the project slightly differently, each one had a different vision. Some preferred a mountain of snow as a canvas, others a small castle. But each of them was enraptured, totally immersed in the task.
The snow plopped down on us, tickling our faces and melting on our hats. The ‘balmy’ temperatures brought the kind of snow that lays fluffy and thick, perfect for rolling, building and of course painting. Needing no external inspiration they reinvented the landscape finding nothing unusual is this painting of the outside world.
It is a gift to witness minds so free; free from false perceptions of what should or should not be. Art is what they make it, the world is what they make it. Long may that viewpoint last.
We returned inside, soaked on the outside by melted snow but delighted on the inside by our colourful fun. Though I feel spring tingling not so very far beneath our feet I am satisfied right now with these last days of winter; looking down upon the bent heads of my two boys as they explore this world of white, this impermanent moment.
Is there a better view than that?
Emmalina and Her Unfeasibly Large Bonnet 