The eastern seaboard of the United States is  getting walloped by a late-winter storm. This, after basking in an early-spring break of amazingly mild weather, leading both the natural environment and people in it to celebrate the start of spring. In our region of eastern Canada we failed to attract those same warm temperatures that Boston, for example, basked in, around the 70s last week, but we enjoyed tolerable temperatures that bridged the gap between minus-and-plus on the Celsius scale.

Now, we too are plunged back into winter, mid-March. Of course March has always been a volatile month, see-sawing back and forth between relatively moderate and absolutely atrocious weather patterns. We found it quite cold yesterday on our woodland ramble, the sole day in five where the temperature struggled up to minus-8C, and windy, that seemed somewhat reasonable.

Now the everpresent wind linked with colder temperatures returning once again overnight and bringing with it the edget of the storm front that is persecuting the U.S. has us sighing in resignation. We do have the option of remaining in our nice, comfortable house, but for brief forays into the backyard, however. The backyard at this time of year should be almost free of its accumulated snow burden but this year that hasn't happened. We've got snow piled several feet  high, crustily frozen enough to take our weight, which will take a while yet to melt.

We just have to accommodate ourselves to the misery of being locked out of our natural surroundings for a day or two, since tomorrow too is forecasted to bring another ten cm. of snow in a windy and icy atmosphere. Jackie and Jilly hunker down in their favourite resting  spots, rising occasionally to agitate for play, racing after one another through the house.

And we go on line to scrutinize the news of the day from various news sources. While I struggle with myself to decided whether or not it's time to begin the annual spring cycle of cleaning cupboards, ugh!