Deep Freeze and Envy

Current picture out my back door

It's cold here right now, bitterly cold.  When I woke up this morning the thermometer showed -4 degrees.  Then as I worked out, I watched it continue to drop down to -6 degrees.  It's started to warm up a little now, to -2 degrees, although it feels like -14 with the wind chill and it's snowing.  Our high today is supposed to be 1 degree.  I actually don't mind it terribly, I'm on vacation and staying warm and toasty in my house.  My husband, my son, and I are going with my father-in-law to see the last Hobbit movie today, but that's also indoors, so it'll only be the walk from the car to the movie theater that will be uncomfortable.

Picture of the stormy sky last night

I'm feeling somewhat envious this morning.  I love art, and frequently wish that I could create it, but I can't.  There are areas where I'm creative.  I can write formulas in Excel that surprise even the Finance department.  I take photographs that sometimes capture a different perspective.  I sometimes think I can "paint a picture" with words.  I wrote and delivered my father's eulogy this year and got lots of compliments on both the content and the delivery.  I've always loved to write and I lettered in speech in high school.  But I can't use a blank piece of paper and a pencil to make something beautiful.  My husband and my daughter both can, which is why I'm feeling envious.

The finish was ruined on this old guitar, so my husband's uncle just gave it to him. My husband decided to make it look nice again, and he painted this in his free-time.  He didn't have any templates or anything, he just sat and drew.  He also drew the new logo for the elementary school where he taught for fifteen years.  He doesn't create art all the time, but when he feels like it, he can just sit down and do it.

My daughter made this picture using a pen and ink, and I do mean the old-fashioned pen where she had to dip it in the ink.  She was inspired by a drawing of bird and birdhouse, and then took off from there.  She frequently draws in her free-time (when she's not reading) and is getting to be very good. Apologies for the poor picture quality, it's behind glass hanging at my in-laws' house and there were too many lights to get a clean photo; and I didn't think it would be very polite to turn all the lights off while my mother-in-law was making dinner.

I guess I shouldn't want to be something that I'm not.  I should be thankful for the talents that I do have, they serve me well in supporting my family financially.  But I can't help feeling a little jealous when two of the people I live with can sit down and draw and create something beautiful for others to see, and I just can't.