doodling – Skelton Sketches

The quiet of snow…

of gliding across landscapes chockfull of it…

is coming to an end.

The mountains are full up with an eight foot base of snow,

but spring is coming…

Snowy stillness is giving way to the sound of water rushing, gurgling, dripping as it dissolves winter’s icy grip.

Birds sing again. First robins. Chickadees too. The ravens are no longer alone.

The quiet glory of snow has given way to the silent wonder of swelling buds

with their reminder that winter’s stark glory will soon be surpassed.

I am watching and waiting…

And I am quite lichen the green of it! ( :

How about you?

–LS

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Rev.21:5

“We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye…and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed…” I Cor.15:51,52

Skiing and doodling are two new things I’m applying myself to in this season of my life, just because they are at hand and I have the time. And because I need to overcome the associated fears. Of falling. Of breaking. Of embarrassing myself. Of failing…

At face value they may not look like much. And if you’ve been looking at pictures here this winter you’ve already seen enough snow!

But in the practicing there have been lessons. Valuable ones, that go beyond the actual skill that grows with each effort.

How to fall. How to get up. How to bid shaking knees be strong and stride on…

I’ve learned that a drawing starts with one tentative line. Mistakes can be redeemed, lines re-routed, or bad starts entirely scrapped with no earth-shattering consequence.

Ability is relative. Doubting whether I can succeed is no reason not to try.
Committing to try, today, and tomorrow and the next day… is the first step to succeeding, or failing. Which will it be? Who’s to say? At least I can show up and see what happens. There will be surprises either way!

I have learned I can laugh at myself. I can go “poof” into a snow drift at a sharp curve in a slick downhill trail and roll over and get up and try it again. You will never see those pictures. I need not keep a record of the times I fail…

I can tackle a drawing that looks so beyond me I wonder why I’m trying, and well, it may be, the first time. But there’s a glimmer of something good and practice may yet render a pleasing effect. I’ll never know if I don’t try.

Fear dies hard. Balance takes time to achieve. Training muscles and fingers and reflexes and undoing lifelong thought patterns takes time… and continuance…