So when I distill it all down, two events of the day stand out. The first was the talk with my friend. She confided in me what had been troubling her, and I hope I was able to relieve her burden somewhat just by caring. And in turn, I was able to confide in her my heartaches of the week and know she cared. That was a happy moment.
The other happy moment was a little more unusual and definitely unplanned. Often Palaestra (homeschool classes) allows vendors to come in and display their wares. Today's vendor was Miller Paper. They sell all manner of paper, books and art supplies. It was a happy collusion of events because only last night was L working on an assignment for her science class in which she was required to write a paper on a scientist of her choosing and also include a hand-drawn portrait of him. As is typical of L, she spent more time (and invested more interest) in the drawing than the paper, even with only the most rudimentary of tools: a no. 2 pencil, a sheet of lined notebook paper and a Q-tip for shading. But whatever she lacked in resources she made up for with talent and determination. Isaac Newton himself would have been proud of her rendering!
Suddenly it hit me that this kid has some of her grandmother's artistic inclination. It isn't the kind of thing that we can officially devote time to right now, as in art classes. She's just too busy with school, piano and ballet. But it occurred to me I should at least buy her some basic tools so she can draw on her own in her free time, while watching TV or whenever.
And Voila! Miller Paper appeared at Palaestra the very next morning! So I bought her a sketch pad, some charcoal pencils and charcoal sticks, a kneadable eraser and a shading tool. Then I got to thinking about R. When he was homeschooled he'd draw a lot, usually castle battle scenes with arrows flying, armored men falling off castle walls, blood splattering everywhere, sometimes dragons involved. Maybe he would begin to draw again if I bought a second set of materials. So I did.
When R got home from school I introduced the idea to him. He chuckled and didn't say much else. But tonight I said good night to the kids a little early and scuttled R's set of supplies upstairs with me. If he really is interested, I'll get him another set of materials of his own, but doggonit, I wanted to try this drawing business! I haven't ever in my life seriously tried to draw anything, and I don't expect I have any latent genius, but it looked fun. And satisfying.
So I got my fingers all black, put at least one black smudge on my bed sheet, but I did make a drawing that I was marginally satisfied with for a first go. And I had fun doing it! That was an unexpected and novel happy moment! Maybe I'll have another one of the same tonight. Gotta get some in before T gets home from his trip. I know he'll laugh at me...
I'll include a picture here:
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| My first charcoal drawing! |
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