When I initially began taking pictures for this post, I had a plan to write about how our woods was the best gift we could ever give our children. But as the boys and I walked our beloved trails, I realized that I was wrong. These woods are the best gift we could have given our entire family, adults included.
When we cut "Toonasaurus Trail" a little over a year ago I had no idea just how deeply it would connect all of us with the land we live on. And it's not a result of having hundreds of acres to wander and explore - our home is on 3.5 acres, about 2.5 which comprise our trail. You can walk the entire thing in just a few minutes if you choose.
But we never seem to take just a few minutes. There are so many things to look at, to discover. Sometimes I feel like entering our woods is like going through the wardrobe into Narnia. It's a place of magic:
Will you walk with me?
This is the "back woods" - a doorway right behind the playset that leads to a rope swing under the oaks:
Just the other week I while walking by myself I surprised a deer back here.
As we follow the trail we come to the younger portion of the woods, where cedar trees still hold dominion:
You can see occasional flowers and the world grows greener until you come out into "the meadow," a small area of our yard that we stopped mowing a few years ago. Here are flowers galore - ox-eyed daisies in the spring, coneflowers in the summer, ironweed in the early fall. Short Pants finds an early goldenrod and uses it as a sword, defending against the dragons who lurk nearby:
We can journey through "the tunnel" and admire the elderberries beginning to ripen:
The world is full of flowers and waving grasses (and even baby trees!) till we come to "the crunchy woods," so named for the numerous hickory nuts that crunch beneath our feet in late summer and fall:
No flowers but instead the lovely red of berries discovered:
Make sure to nod a friendly hello to "Grandmother." She is young but seems oh so wise:
Cross the driveway into the front woods - down a small hill into a land of twisty vines:
Short Pants finds a stick curved just perfectly to make a bow with:
Then runs ahead, his prize held high:
I smily fondly as I pass "The Lovers" - those two are bound together, yet still maintain their individuality:
The air is full of silence, the woods full of knowing. I wonder what secrets they hold - what they've seen. I wonder if they missed being walked through all those long years before our family came here. I think they are glad to have us.
And so we leave - back into the cool of the house - back to legoes to build and chores to do. But the woods stay with us:
I realize as I clean up in the kitchen that these woods have become a part of me. I've watched them closely through a full year's cycle, given them names, and learned not just to admire them - but also to love them. Living surrounded by our woods has changed me in some way that I'm not even sure I can explain. I feel safe, protected here. This is where I'm supposed to be.
It's not perfect. A lot of people I'm sure would rather face a firing squad than live here. We are far from everything; The Mister has a 45-minute commute each way to work. Our woods, besides being full of beauty, can also be full of ticks. Our house is small by some standards.
But even though it's not perfect, it *is* priceless. We live in a place of simple, everyday magic. This where we're supposed to be.