So April First arrived giving us quite a mixed-bag of weather. We decided to venture out to the ravine for our daily walk a little earlier than usual. And while around the street level yesterday's all-day snow had quite melted, in the ravine it had lingered. Enough had melted, however, not to have added substantially to the snowpack.

Enough melted to lay bare the devastation of the ravine in those places where the Emerald Ash borer had killed our lovely ash trees and crews had come in to cut down a good many of them, in a fruitless effort to stall the onward march of the beetle. Where so many mature trees had been there was stark devastation. Eventually other trees will grow to fill in the gaps, but for the time being it looks fairly awful in those particular areas.

After our walk, we left our little dogs at home while we went off to have a look around the annual spring antique show held the last decade at Carleton University's fieldhouse. It has gradually been transformed from a truly interesting antique exposition to a wan likeness of one, and finally into a nostalgia and collectibles show.

We went along anyway, partially out of habit and partly because one never knows what could turn up. What turned up, we saw to our dismay was a lot of junk, mostly in the collectibles category. The single authentic antiques dealer that was there among the vast array of nostalgia dealers present with their tired wares, did indeed have quite wonderful antiques in his collection, and their scarcity reflected their price.

It was an entertainment of sorts, though one that left us feeling just a trifle disgruntled. It had started off on a rather ridiculous note we thought, coming across the newly installed devices dispensing parking permits that require you to input your license number before the ticket is dispensed. Possibly the brainchild of a team at the university's engineering department.

It is a good site for the purpose, no complaints there, truth to say. The accommodation is commodious, bright and attractive. The only thing that was missing was the antiques.