This is an exciting transition time of seasons for our two little fellows, eager to sniff about at all the new odours emitted with the melting snow revealing both extremely rude and otherwise pedestrian objects heretofore well covered and now ripe for a sniffing epidemic. As for ourselves, less given to sniffing about at unsavoury objects, we can appreciate a sweet, long-awaited new fragrance in the ambient atmosphere; the arrival of spring.

It was uncommonly, unseasonably and wonderfully mild yesterday, and today is a repeat of that. The sky as clear of clouds as is possible, the merest pale white streak here and there, and the sun glaring not unhappily down upon all it surveys. The warmth of the sun has increased and you can feel it through winter clothing.

The progress we make on the forested trails is somewhat awkward, the top layer of the tamped-down trails, compressed by many booted feet over the past few months has turned to the soft, pearly bits of frozen-iced-snow we recall from previous seasons. That, alternating with slush and areas of yellowed denaturized ice running with snow-melt on the many slopes we traverse.

We came across quite a few of our walking-trail familiars, a happy event for Jackie and Jillie, always eager to see people, and recognizing them all from many previous encounters, with and without companion animals of their own. They can cavort with the dogs in a limited fashion, since none of them, large or small like ours is too anxious to challenge the remaining soft depths of snow on either side of the trail.

We came across one woman we know with her dog Eva, a highly intelligent German shepherd-cross with beautiful markings and conformation. Eva, it appears, is ill with some peculiar canine liver disease. The examining veterinarian has no idea what triggered the disease. She's young, under five years of age, and her owner is devastated. A biopsy is next and then surgery, but she feels daunted by the prospect of her beloved Eva facing intrusive surgery, let alone the massive cost involved. We referred her to the Ogdensburg Town and Country vet hospital and she plans to contact them to determine whether they're equipped to carry out a rather complex protocol that Eva will require.

We also came across another, more recent acquaintance with her now year-and-a-half Irish setter, a dog many times larger than our own and just as rambunctious and mischievous. She doesn't care nor does she hesitate with her size and her long legs and her adventurous spirit, about the difficulties encountered romping through the deep, white snowpack. At one juncture she sniffed something appealing to her, then before I realized what was happening, she pushed her long, narrow snout into one my pockets to extract the plastic bag I keep full of doggy treats, and ran off with it into that deep, white snowpack.