All the Colors in the Sky

My grandfather was an amateur artist. This doesn't mean he wasn't good at being an artist - he was - it just means it's not how he made his living.

He once taught me how to paint. Now, just to set the record straight: I am not an artist, I can not draw (okay, I can do daisies and funny looking rabbits). But what he taught me was more important than how to draw.

He taught me how to see all the colors in the sky.

I had my oil paints, and I was going to paint the sky. Blue. That's what color a sky is. With fluffy white clouds. But he stayed my hand. He said "Look again, the sky is not just blue. The clouds are not just white."

And I looked again. And he was right.

And now, whenever I look at the sky, and notice the various colorings that make up the sky and the clouds I think of my grandfather.

He taught me something much more valuable than how to draw. He taught me how to notice things.

Thanks grandpa.