At various times in their lives many people gravitate to natural settings to find solitude and peace, to rest their minds for however brief a period of time, from the weight of problems and emotionally unsettling occurrences in their lives. The ambiance of a green environment, strolling along a forest path has the capacity to soothe an unhappily restive heart. At the very least to give pause to the depth of emotions that sometimes overwhelm people.

Yesterday was a fairly cold day. The high temperature for the day was minus-6 degrees C., and there was a stiff wind, to augment the frigid atmosphere. On the positive side, it was also sunny, although usually the forest canopy, even in winter, shields the sun from penetrating too deeply in the woods. We, myself and our two little dogs, had almost completed our daily circuit in the woods, and were well on our way to approaching the last bridge in our good-sized wooded ravine that graces a fairly large neighbourhood, when we came across a beautiful looking young woman.

Of course, to me, any woman around forty years of age, from my perspective of having reached twice that age, looks young to me. And she was beautiful, a lovely, smiling face, happy to see our two little dogs who were leaping about her excitedly, wanting to be noticed and petted, and she was more than willing to oblige.

As so often happens, even when coming across people you've never before seen, there is often a tendency to linger and to strike up a conversation. And it can be surprising how anxious people are sometimes to acquaint people they don't know with surprising intimate details of their lives. The simple fact is, there are occasions when people simply have no one to talk to who will listen to them. And so, I listened.

It began with the woman mentioning how important she feels it is for families to introduce valued animal companions to their children's lives, that it helps them to become more compassionate as human beings, valuing other creatures and learning the meaning and depth of love in another dimension to that which occurs through dependency and lifelong exposure. Their family has a cat which they love unreservedly, now 14 years old, and she couldn't imagine the quality of their lives without their cat.

And then she spoke of her two children who were so different from one another in their characters. One, who doggedly pursued areas of interest and on his own initiative learns what he needs to know to become functional and comfortable, and the other making passive efforts and generally failing in areas where he should be excelling because he has the potential. And when he fails he usually blames others, never willing to admit that he hasn't made the required effort.

Without doubt, most mothers could relate entirely to this woman's exasperation with her 17- and 20-year-old sons. The concern that mothers have for their offspring is fairly well unconditional, and we want only for them what will make them happy, give them satisfaction in life. Despite all our efforts and our best intentions, and if we're fortunate, that of a father who stands alongside the mother, children develop their own ways of facing life. The values they will have absorbed through their familial exposure may remain intact, but other facets of the management of life opportunities and priorities will reflect the individual's personality and inherited outlook.

I finally broke away, after we had spoken for a while. I was concerned twofold; that our little dogs' paws would become too cold from prolonged exposure where they sat, waiting for me to continue our walk, and I was anxious as well, that if my husband decided to venture into the ravine to meet us, our tardiness would ensure that he would venture too far and it would have a deleterious effect on him.

So on we went, and soon both Jackie and Jillie broke away from me, racing ahead, with Jackie returning but Jillie nowhere in sight as I called to her and we rounded corners and she couldn't be seen ahead, approaching the last bridge. When that happened I was fairly certain it was because my husband had come down the long hill into the ravine, crossed the bridge and began venturing uphill again to meet us, and soon I saw him in the distance with both of our little dogs leaping happily about him.

This frigid weather and high wind is too hard on his lungs and he is susceptible to pneumonia, post-surgery, even though he was inoculated against it. When he expects to be out in this kind of weather for any length of time, he wraps a woollen scarf around the lower part of his face. It is almost three months since his surgery, and his sternum has to heal completely before he extends himself too far physically.

But when I saw him didn't my heart soar and lift me bodily into another plane of existence entirely!