Snow was still falling when we roused ourselves out of bed yesterday morning. And the forecast was for milder temperatures than what we've been experiencing for the past week and a half, so that was cheering. All outdoor surfaces were well covered with light, fluffy snow, tufts of it gracing animate and inanimate alike, creating that unsurpassed micro-landscape of evanescent beauty that captures the eye and warms the soul.

Because of the volume of snow that had come down we had our doubts about how well we'd be able to flounder through the trails that hadn't yet had time for people to begin the tamping-down process. We discovered that a few hardy souls had been out before us, but no trail through the snow had yet been established, so the going was pretty tough.

It requires just so much more energy and determination to forge through layers of snow. Breaking trail was a breeze when we were young, but at 80, it's become difficult. And when you do, it's quite a narrow trail. Jackie and Jillie didn't need their winter boots, since the high was minus-4C, a cold they are able to tolerate, even with newfallen snow sticking to their paws and their hair. They love the snow and enjoy romping in it. As long as it isn't that cold that it penetrates and makes them extremely uncomfortable with long exposures.

Munchkin and Newton

We did come across someone else walking two little dogs; one her own, the other a neighbour's. We've known Donna for many years and she, like us, has had a succession of companion pets to accompany her in the ravine for long walks. The two little dogs, are considerably older than our two, nowhere near as rambunctious, given to plodding along on their short little legs. They don't stand as tall as Jackie and Jillie and where the snow hasn't been tamped down, perambulation becomes quite difficult for them, one a part Maltese, the other a miniature long-haired Dachshund.

The four little dogs hadn't seen one another in quite an age, so their meeting on the trail represented a kind of snow-party, as they gathered and communed with one another. We've no idea, after all, what transpires between dogs familiar with each other, nor what it is they possibly communicate but it might be as pedestrian as the manner in which humans greet one another, and talk briefly of insignificant matters, even the weather.