Entering Narnia

So it turns out I live on the edge of Narnia and I had no idea.  I have lived here for almost 5 years, and I have never been further than the brush pile in our back yard. But this Christmas, Ben gave Tobi and I our own snowshoes.  Of course we had NO snow until mid January this winter.  So when we finally got enough snow to cover the ground, we all put on our new gear and headed out through the backyard.

And then we entered Narnia...

Ben goes snowshoeing out here in the winter a lot...but it was so foreign to me that we lived on the edge of this winter wonderland...trails and snow-covered beauty...just beyond our own yard.  Tobi did great for being 3 and walking in snowshoes for the first time.  We were out about a half an hour and she (with the promise of hot chocolate upon completion) really enjoyed herself! 

But, there was a day last week where things aligned just so... two kids actually napping at the same time and the house was relatively "clean" (enough) and Ben working at home,  so I decided it was the perfect chance to return to Narnia.

 Its so amazing to me that there is a whole system of snow-covered paths...winding behind all the houses I drive by everyday...leading up to the water tower...over frozen streams that I never knew existed.  I just kept walking...and winding...and wondering where the next path would lead.  Ben told me about snowshoeing there, but without having experienced it myself I really didn't think it was much more than snowy woods.  And actually it isn't much more than that...the reality is that I didn't realize how cool snowy woods could be.  I thought of a hundred metaphors for life while I was trekking...how we live on the edge, peering in and never knowing what is beyond waiting for us until we dare to enter...how others explain things to us but we don't fully understand until we experience it for ourselves...how sometimes you just have to get into the bureau if you want to see Narnia.  For me that bureau was a a path past the brush pile, a pair of snowshoes and a couple of tired kids.