The two days of sub-zero temperatures that descended on us were ones we let pass by without venturing into the ravine for our usual hikes. Jordan, on the other hand, took that opportunity to get out without us on his skis and had a pest-free (which is to say no Jackie-and-Jillie) nipping at the back of his skis) run through the ravine.

Yesterday from a morning low of minus-12 Celsius the temperature speedily rose to minus-1, which made for a most pleasant winter hike, full sun compensating for the wind.

This morning we left the house at 8:00 am because Jordan's flight was booked for ten, stopping over in Toronto on the way to Newfoundland where in St.John's, he'll be attending a science conference in his field of biology. Over the week he spent with us, much of it was spent working up his contribution to the conference.

I had a sleep-disturbed night last night, the usual for me when a visit with our youngest child with whom in the past we spent so much time on camping, canoeing, mountain hiking ventures, comes to an end and he prepares to leave. He may be 53, but I haven't been able to shake the conviction that he's our baby, irrespective of how old he is, and I miss all of our children.

It's entirely conceivable that we have our little dogs as a replacement, filling a bit of a vacuum in our lives, as though we need someone around us in our day-to-day lives to be concerned with.

When we left the house we drove into rush-hour traffic, of course, and we noticed there was some ice fog resulting in all the trees being layered with hoar-frost, one of nature's many lovely visual permutations in the winter months. The airport was surrounded by fog, but over on the distant horizon there was the sun, brilliantly attempting to burn through the opaque white veil.