Path to Wonder

We had our first substantial snowfall yesterday.
It was a certifiable blustery day.
Today it had calmed down quite a bit and it was a good day for an outdoor stroll.
The snow forces you to slow down.
To relax and be a witness to Mother Nature's magnificence.
So, out the door we went...  

The girls plowed through some snow drifts they found and did some driveway incline sledding (it's the closest thing we have to a hill in the yard) while I trudged to the barn with some water for the horse and goats. 
I loaded them up with more hay and offered them an apple. 

Did a bit of manure shoveling and looked around for a yellow plastic ear bud that one of the goats ripped off of my brother's safety ear plugs the other day and ingested as if it were a gumdrop. 
No sign up of it, but it could be buried under the snow. 
Or still in the goat's gut. 
Who knows. 
Anywho, after doing some barn chores the girls and I headed to the woods. 
As we were heading out of the clearing in the back pastures and into the quiet of the trees, where the wind doesn't blow and a serene feeling overtakes one, I heard a strange voice. 
A squeaking voice. 
I heralded a shhhh to the crowd and we stopped and listened, turned around and saw two of the barn kittens following us on our adventure. 
So into the woods went me and my girls, Lola the dog, and Cali and Popcorn the kittens.

We were looking for certain things (Zoe's idea) and had to keep our eyes peeled for
1. something bright and red 
2. something brown and mossy. 
I quickly found some red berries hanging onto a bush and Zoe uncovered some brown moss on a downed tree in the pond that's now dry. 
We found lots of deer tracks and pretended a blizzard was coming and had to take refuge in a fallen tree cave down a deer path. 
If you don't know, deer make their own paths in the woods. 
They like to walk the same trail over and over and over. 
It's always off of the regular human foot path, is much more narrow than a regular path would be, and in the winter it's surrounded by the trademark deer footprint which is a hoofed deer imprint that has a slight drag mark to it. 

So, after the blizzard was over we decided we were getting cold and headed back to the house. 
Gigi fell about 4,210 times and had cheeks the color of valentines by the time we made it in. 
Popcorn retreated to the dog bed and collapsed down next to his brother.

I love the snow...