It must be a family thing.

Driving up to Maine for Camp Barry last summer, I was lucky enough to have the company of Ricky, Mike and Gram. Well, mostly Gram. While the guys kept themself busy in the back seat, Gram and I got to have some quality time. As many of you know, she's got quite a gift for painting. It's not just the capability to paint, but the ability to appreciate things for the beauty that they posess. She loves Nature most of all. Looking out the windshield on the highway, there aren't many things to see - cars, striped lines, toll booths... CLOUDS. Being in the wide open state of Maine, we had just the blue skies in front of us, filled with fluffy white clouds. "If only I had my paintbrush." Now, every time I see a cloud I think of her. Ever-changing and so peaceful, clouds truly are a most spectacular sight. Veyrier is a most interesting place to watch the clouds, and I've been in such awe of the beautiful scenes which change by the minute. There is often thick fog here, sometimes hiding the mountains completely, and when the sun shines back through it creates quite a masterpiece. Twice today I had a "cloud moment" and there was no sunlight in either: It was one of those excessively cloudy days where you couldn't see past your nose. By the end of the day, at the last day of the week, I really needed to go for a walk to destress. When sticking my hand out the window to determine how many layers I would need to wear, I saw that it was lightly snowing. (And I couldn't wait to get outside.) Returning home after creating a new walking route, I looked around. Where were the mountains? I hadn't seen them since I'd started out! Up in the distance, I saw Le Saleve rising from above some dense clouds. It was as if someone had sketched them and erased all but the top third! Needless to say, I had a big, goofy, American smile on my face. Almost every night, I take advantage of having a window overlooking the mountains that just so happens to have a 10-inch wide shelf underneath it. I turn off the lights (so as to reduce glare) and just sit. Enjoy. A time or two Maria, my lovely Italian friend, has come into my room and questions my sanity. She must wonder what Americans are truly like, because the one she knows sits in windows with the lights off! Tonight after dinner, I walked into my room and immediately noticed the sky aglow from the nearly fully moon. There were clouds throughout the sky except in one small space where the moon was tucked away. City lights of Doane, France in the distance to the left, looming dark mountains up ahead and a patchy sky lit up by the Swiss moon. I called Maria in and we shared the romantic moment, until the moving clouds reclaimed the sky and covered up the moon. I've been absolutely loving the changing scenery here, because you'll never know just what you'll see when looking out the window in the morning. Sunny, cloudy, snowy - all are beautiful in Veyrier! I guess I'll have to keep taking my pictures so that I can show Gram when I get home! She would be in all her glory here.