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There are times when behind a plain, nondescript door, lies a magic land.  In an average glance out the window, there is a once in a year sunset.  In a small present with brown paper sack wrapping, there is a Faberge egg encrusted with diamonds.

Ok, Ok!! Stop trying to be poetic!  Alright then!  Just allow me the momentary illusion of thinking I can write.

Basically my point is this.  Sometimes really big things happen with small, quiet invitations.

The other night I was getting ready for bed.  I had my really cool new pajama pants on that Lor gave me for Christmas.  They are pj pants with a print of 1980′s acid washed jeans on them.  They are way cool!  No, they are rad!  Now if I just had my mullet back!  But I digress.

It was late, probably around midnight, the woodstove in our bedroom was quietly roaring and I was tired.  My time after the kids go to bed is sacred to me.  It’s the part of the day when I can actually have quiet and peace.  Unlike the other 19 hours of the day, but again, I further digress.

So as I was going into the kitchen to do my evening light turn-off, my 16 year old daughter grabbed my arm and quietly said, “hey, come on, let’s go for a walk.”  Deep sigh.  I thought, “really?”  I could hear the warm comfy bed calling me as a refuge to the 3 inches of new snow on the ground outside.  Not to mention it was in the 20″s.   Brrr.

Strangely enough, I said, “ok.”  Went and got dressed, put a hat on and my heavy coat and went outside.

Anya joined me about 10 minutes later, I was thinking she wanted to take some night time photos.  So we start walking.  “Did you bring your camera?”  “Nope”  hmmmmm?

The night air was cold, the snow crunched under our feet as we trudged toward the woods.  She told me about nights when she came out by herself to take pics.  “I stood over there one evening for a long time,” she said.  Hmmm.  Maybe she needs to talk. Ok.

Anya's self portait in the snow

We walked precariously up a hillside,  rutted by erosion, and I contemplated how to play drums with a broken foot.  Safely, we got to the top of the hill as the quick moving clouds would allow the moon to turn the midnight snow into a bright, glowing blueness.  We could see down onto the pond.  The night time scene was truly breathtaking.  She told me about the trees that fell from the hillside into the pond during the flood back in May.  I hadn’t been back there since then.  She told me about bringing her friends there to shoot pictures.

We walked on past the downed oaks and the ice covered blackness of the pond and continued on into the hills.  It was a beautiful walk.  The moon was our flashlight, and lit up the snow so we could see where we were going.  We walked and talked, not about anything deep or thoughtful, but about stuff.  About her sitting in a downed tree the shape of a chair, she took a self portrait there.  And that rotten tree has a bees nest in it.  She would sit and watch the bees fly in and out.

As we got to the point in the woods where we needed to turn around I realized that she just needed to spend time with her “Papa.”  It didn’t have to be deep, philosophical, or life changing.  She didn’t have to reveal her innermost secrets.  She just wanted to hang with her dad.  I felt really good.  It warmed me on the inside.  My feet however were still cold!

What an opportunity I would have missed if I would have said “Anya, I’m tired, I’ll take a raincheck, goodnight!”  I would have gone to bed and one of life’s precious moments would have gone unlived.

Anya may eventually forget our nighttime walk in the snow.  In time the memories may fade.  But for me, I’ll never forget it as long as I live.  It was a gift.  One presented quietly, without a lot of fanfare.  In a plain wrapper, if you will.  But inside was a priceless jewel that made my life richer.  I’m glad I didn’t say no.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

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