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Between Friends with BobAnn Breland

The sky is a marvel to watch, beautiful in its many forms — sometimes fearsome, other times peaceful and serene. Lately we have been watching the darker skies as the storms keep coming our way.

Standing outside one day, I watched as thick black clouds gathered and swirled by the wind as they came our way, passing hurriedly overhead. Thankfully, they seemed to be passing us by.

I looked up at the clearest blue sky and thought how beautiful it was, admiring the particular sky blue color that could never be matched on a canvas, even if you mixed and mixed and mixed. Some things just can’t be duplicated.

I have told some of my painting friends no matter how they paint a sky, the colors will be pretty much correct. The many colors and formations are as varied as anything they will ever see, never repeating.

Another day when I was outside, I watched as floating fluffy white clouds were blown about by a slight wind. I tried picking out different shapes in the clouds, as I learned to do as a child, laughing as my characters seemed so simple.

One morning while driving, I saw a most unusual sky with several layers of clouds in varied formations and each one seemed a little further back than the next. There was a big hole in the darker cloud in front, which revealed a pretty pinker area and behind that, a spot of clear blue sky. It was like looking through a big hole into the heavens.

Watching the sky is fascinating. The older folks were always making determinations about what the weather would be by what they saw in the sky. I suppose it would be great to have their gift for reading it, but to me, the sky is just the sky – a thing to admire.

Interesting at any stage, we are aware by observing that nothing stays static — every moment there is a different picture. Sometimes temperamental and stormy, other times sunny and serene, the sky can be compared to life. Calm one minute and then swirling tempestuously the next.

In life, we roll along day after day, with everything going smoothly — like the fair blue sky — and we begin to take life for granted. Assuming everything will be fine and nothing bad is ever going to happen.

Then along comes the black clouds and it seems the storm will never pass — but like those black clouds we were watching earlier, sooner or later it will pass and the blue skies will reappear.

I have watched recent happenings in the sky, the lining up of planets and the eclipses and wondered if those caused some of the weather patterns we are seeing.

As the sky is seen with different layers and a hole from the dark to the pink to the blue, we have to always look for the bright side of the storm.

I see the greatness of God in the sky. If you look at it long enough and think about it, you will agree that the sky is a strange sight indeed. Who could look at such a magical and wonderful thing without being convinced of the power of the Creator.

He knew we needed the sky, not only for beauty and predicting weather and providing the air around us, but also for the lessons of life that could be taught, using the sky as an example.

We should remember, no matter how severe the storm, there are always the blue skies that follow. It is planned that way and you can count on it!