We set our wake-up time for five, but we were awake without the the clock reminding us of the time. Which is usually the way when something extraordinary, out of routine's comfort to face any worrying event that might confront us the following day. Fact is, I was unable to sleep at all. My mind a turmoil of emotions and fears. That too is typical of me.

We had arranged the night before for the taxi to arrive at six, and it was there on time. Between five and six we got our two little dogs Jack and Jill outside briefly, then fed them their breakfast. As far as they were concerned there was nothing out of the ordinary in the business of the start of the day up to then. They were as eager to eat as they always are. Knowing what they did not, that they would be left alone in the house for hours, they were taken out again just before we left the house.

We had showered, I'd made up our bed, and we had arranged to take with us what we needed for the day. Prescribed medications, reading material, instructions we were advised to return with us to the day unit. We prepared to be away for most of the day. Which equated with lots of reading material. In the end, not much of it was read. By either of us. Tension doesn't exactly make for the relaxing action of reading, though reading does relax tension.

It had taken a scant 20 minutes to drive from our house to the Ottawa Hospital Heart Institute. Under overcast skies, the roads were dry and not at all crowded with morning rush-hour traffic. Perhaps partly explained by the fact that a weather-alert had been posted for heavy snowfall to begin in the early afternoon. From the hospital unit I could look out at the exterior of the hospital where heavy construction was proceeding, but at noon there was still no snow.

By the time we finally left the hospital however, around three in the afternoon, the sky was completely obliterated in a heavy snowstorm. The taxi arrived scant minutes after we'd called for it. From there we drove in a white blizzard, traffic slow and halting because the adverse conditions certainly called for driving caution. Even so, the return trip took no longer than the reverse in the early morning.

Jackie and Jillie were excited, meeting us right at the door, but at the same time strangely subdued, for them. They had been good little tykes in our absence, surprising for the mischief-prone and energy-propelled characteristics that define those little imps. We gave them treats; some kefir and a few doggy biscuits, and then we all settled down to rest together, exhausted.