We hardly knew what we expect when we set out for the ravine  yesterday afternoon, but having missed two days already, the day of the storm itself and the day following, we thought it time enough to discover for ourselves what conditions would be like.

And we soon found ourselves floundering. It was difficult to even enter the trail leading down into the ravine, since the snow plows in clearing the street itself had piled snow up high against our usual entry point. So we climbed and balanced ourselves and slid down the mound over to where the trail should be. Someone, or perhaps a number of someones had been there before us, so there were plodding bootmarks, but nothing resembling the trail we know so well. And we were challenged to keep upright in the depths of snow which our two little dogs, given the depressions we were leaving behind us found difficult but not so much so that it impeded their enthusiasm beyond their abilities to transcend.

So we proceeded along, carefully, slowly, eventually finding that there had been enough people previous to us to almost level the trails winding through the ravine, but not quite. Our boots slipped and we yawed from one side to the other, trying to keep ourselves upright. Jackie and Jillie did have a bit of an advantage, since they've four legs, are closer to the ground, and placed their booted paws in the depressions we left behind us.

We were soon out of breath, stopping frequently to gather our stamina back into working order before continuing. And we were surprised to see quite a few other people out and about, a few of them wearing snowshoes, which went a long way to correcting balance in the prevailing conditions. Everyone was happy, though, including us, at the fact that we could and we did get out to confront nature now that it had pacified the landscape with its brilliantly sparkling white comforter, evergreen boughs laden and weighted, the sky clear as a lark's song, and the sun shining its warmth over the minus-6-degree high for the day. That there was no wind was an added bonus.

We saw a short-legged little cairn terrier, unfazed by being greeted and surrounded by our two long-legged rascals, floundering in the snow, resorting to a swimming motion to move herself swiftly and excitedly through and along the snow, and a whippet, coated and gracefully moving along in the depths of the snow, happy to be out and moving along.

Of necessity, we had to curtail our walk since it was so physically exhausting to make any headway in the plush depths of a one-day fall of 51 centimetres. But we felt invigorated nonetheless, and content that we had gone out and met the challenge of at least a relatively short jaunt that would have been brisk and soon completed under different conditions, but which took us well over an hour of dedicated slogging to complete.

My boots were packed with snow, despite their height over my legs, and Jackie and Jillie were well frosted with ice and packed with snow, since their fluffy, silky hair tends to acquire both snow and ice on exposure to such conditions. It took some towelling to get us all free of the snow clinging to them and to us, but the toasty confines of the house presented a comfortable alternative to the ravine.

As usual, Jackie and Jillie had a good, energetic romp through the house, chasing after one another, boxing and wrestling, once we were all sorted out. As soon as that ritual was done with, however, they both plopped into a resting position and slept soundly while I began to pre-prepare the fixings for dinner which could then be put together to cook at the last minute.