Thursday, December 11, 2008

Snow!


It snowed about 3 inches this evening in our little section of middle Tennessee. We hadn't seen snow in a long time. For the last 5 years we've been living in places like Los Angeles, Dallas TX and Brazil- none of which are what you'd call cold weather environs- we just didn't get a good dose of snow. Of course I grew up in Buffalo NY, so I know all about snow. These last 5 years I didn't think that I missed it at all. Turns out I had.

So my son and I got down to the serious business of snowman making.
I present to you Mr. Sammy McSlush. A finer snowman never was.

 
  

Do you remember the magic of snow at Christmas-time when you were little?

Why do we forget when we get older and we get all bogged down in work and being serious and all that? Especially those of us who work in animation. When did we become so... grown up? I pondered these things as the full moon came out and the whole world seemed to glow like a story book.



 

7 comments:

Tim said...

Yup! Pretty dang glorious! Let's hope it lasts past noon tomorrow!

Jonathan Grimm said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jonathan Grimm said...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you just had an epiphany. Reading your post sparked an epiphany for me.

When you asked, "when did we become so... grown up,” I asked myself that question. For some reason, that thought started me thinking about what Jesus meant when he said in the gospels to become like little children. Children don’t need to worry about the big things in life, because adults do that for them. How much more free would we, as adults, be if we would come to the realization that our heavenly Father takes care of our big things? I think the worries and concerns in life can steal my joy, because I tend to be a little child piloting my Father’s boat.

Because animation relies so much on joy, humor, and playfulness, I believe that animators who have a grasp of being child-like but not childish can have an edge in our industry—especially in the times we live in.

Andrew Lee said...

Oh man...you guys are so lucky. We only got a light dusting on my side of town. Not even enough for a single decent snowball.

I can only speak for myself when it comes to growing up. So....

As a somewhat new dad, I think about stuff like this all the time.

We grow up...for them.

The joy of a child's youth isn't free. Some one has to pay the piper. Our parents paid the price for us as long as they could...And we'll do it for ours as long as we can. Any parent worthy of the title will pay that price. We plan and fight and work for their innocence sense of wonder every day...most of the time at the cost of our own.

It's a trade. We grow up, so they don't have too.

Our reward for such a selfless act? Being allowed to remember those feelings of magic and wonder as we watch our children play in the snow.

Meh...I don't know....that's my take on it anyway.

Kobi Levi said...

i think the snowman's pose is a bit stiff

Brian Roberts said...

We didn't manage to make a snowman but I did get to take the kids sledding on Friday morning before work. We have a great hill beside our neighborhood clubhouse that's PERFECT for the task. It was so frustrating in Illinois to always have snow but no hills to sled down.

Anonymous said...

holy crap! all this time and i never knew u were a buffaloian!!! fellow snow dweller and animator. woo hoo for snow. i just love how crisp the air is in the winter!!!! keep up the awesome work keith!!