That little sprite in the bright pink jacket is Daisy. She doesn't know she has the market covered on self-assurance, but she has. She is tiny, easily half the size of our two little black imps who have a habit of converging on other dogs in a two-on-one presence that can be intimidating. Daisy wasn't the least bit intimidated. She did do a double-take, however, as though to convey her impression that Jackie and Jillie were behaving in a very ill-mannered fashion.

And she was perfectly correct. It didn't take long, however, for the three to become familiar with one another. This was the first time we'd ever seen Daisy's companion in the ravine, let alone Daisy herself. The peculiar weather pattern that descended on us almost a week ago has brought far more people out than we would normally see in a trek in the ravine through the forested trails.

Instead of the usual minus-ten C-degrees on a reasonable mid-January day, we've been 'coping' with daytime highs between minus-one to plus-five. Which translates to dressing for far milder weather than we're accustomed to on this date, and enjoying the pleasure of it all. With, or without sun.

Yesterday we came across a familiar face we haven't seen in quite awhile. We do see her adult son who lives nearby far more often. His two little companions are familiar to our two, they're fluffy little good-natured terriers. And there they were, with our friend's mother who was looking after them while her fireman-son was off to Florida for a week of hockey competition, if you can believe it. And with her was her own little dog.

Angus too is smaller than Jackie and Jillie, mostly because like his breed, his legs are so stubbily-short. But that didn't keep him from hurrying on ahead while the other four gambolled together. Angus was interested in what lay ahead, around corners where he couldn't be seen, his absence eliciting calls for his return with the promise of a treat. He wandered off so often that every one of the little dogs were the happy recipients of 'come-back-Angus' treats in the space of a half-hour.