Maybe you look at this photo and want to write your own story. Perhaps if C. S. Lewis was here he would read a chapter to us from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He might even read the ending to the chapter titled: Peter’s First Battle. “Then, after a bit, Susan came down the tree. She and Peter felt pretty shaky when they met and I won’t say there wasn’t kissing and crying on both sides. But in Narnia no one thinks any worse of you for that.

“‘Quick! Quick!’ shouted the voice of Aslan. ‘Centaurs! Eagles! I see another wolf in the thickets. There behind you. He has just darted away. After him, all of you. He will be going to his mistress. Now is your chance to find the Witch and rescue the fourth Son of Adam.’ And instantly with a thunder of hoofs and beating of wings a dozen or so of the swiftest creatures disappeared into the gathering darkness.’”

This photo was taken of the path on the way to the Chimney Tops—a rock formation in the Great Smokey National Park. Around here we just say, “The Smokies.” I can’t wait to meet up with my friends Ann and Marc in the park this summer. It has been way too long since I have seen them.

“‘This is the land of Narnia,’ said the faun, ‘where we are now; all that lies between the lamp post and the great castle of Cair Paravel on the eastern sea. . . . It is winter in Narnia, and has been forever so long, and we shall both catch cold if we stand here talking in the snow.’

“‘Thank you very much, Mr. Tumnus,’ said Lucy. ‘But I was wondering whether I ought to be getting back.’”

—from The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

Just received a Twitter from St. Paul’s Cathedral in London saying today marks the 70th anniversary of evacuation of British citizens during World War II. Germany had begun bombing raids on the city at night, and the decision was made to send as many people—particularly children—as possible to homes outside of the London area. The Kilns, which is in Oxford and was owned by C.S. Lewis and his brother Warren, became a safe haven for several youngsters during the Blitz.

Blackout curtains still hang on the windows at the Kilns as a reminder of World War II and the precautions people had to take even outside of London.