I have always had a thing for clouds up in the sky.  I used to love to lay in the grass and watch them morph and change, all the while imagining, bird, elephant, ice cream cone, ships.

When I taught young children in California ( ages 6 to 8 ) I tried to sneak in a bit of time for imagination, things to get their creative writing flowing…

They had never been taught about the secrets hidden in clouds, so I made it my job to teach them… even when the principal disapproved of the practice…  Then we had to do it on the sly or at recess times.  After a time, we went in to capture them on white paper.

“Teacher, this paper is white and so are the clouds!  How can we make them on white paper?”

I got out the blue chalk, “Watch.” I said.  And using the blue chalk I proceeded to outline a cloud on the white field.  Then I lay the chalk on its side and carefully filled in the sky all around my cloud, during which I heard such things as…

“ooooh!”

“Oh cool!”

“WoW!”

“I WANNA TRY IT!”

“Draw the shapes you saw in the clouds today.” I said.

And when they were done I handed them lined paper.

“Now write about what you saw!”  I encouraged.  (At these times, I never heard a complaint from even one about having to write.)

I was such a rebel.

Today I want to share with you a time in your youth when you lay on your back with friends and imagined… the clouds are still there, beckoning to you.  When was the last time you stopped a moment and just looked into the clouds?

One

~*~

Two

~*~

Three

~*~

Tell me, what do you see?

~*~

(All photos are clickable to allow a better view!)