“The sky paints such beautiful pictures!” ~WWPL, a little four year old with a full head of light blonde hair exclaimed the other day! He was actually dangling off a swing looking up at a clear pic of what he called ‘a dragon breathing out flames!’ And we, all three adults, saw it too. But I wondered if we would have seen that if it were not for those bright blue eyes of his spotting it first. I wish I had snapped that pic, but of course, I was too enamored with the conversation to do so.

But it brought me back to a swing set in my own backyard years ago and the sightings we’d so often seen. We dangled for what seemed like hours in summer, dizzy from the heat, but never bored from all the outside world offered us back then. 

I think this is why I continue to write for kids. It’s the magic. Those child’s eyes, that mindset, the way the world comes right at you, and is always in your face. It’s an escape hatch for me! I slip into the mindset of one of my characters, feel the warm breeze on my face and once again, I’m back there…in that skinny body, staring up at the sky, the trees, tromping around in the brook with my friend, Nancy. Totally seeing the world as a more friendly and kind, more beautiful place.

I can almost see Santa criss-crossing the sky! I hope you and yours experienced the magic of the holidays, and can once in a while, catch a glimpse of those beautiful paintings–the gifts  the sky has made for you!