These are unmistakably wintry days, frigid temperatures, cutting winds and a wan winter sun one day, snow tumbling through the atmosphere the next. These are not weather experiences made to order, but they do tend to order the sequence of our days throughout the winter months. There are times when we hesitate to venture out for our regular daily rambles in the woods yet far more frequently there is no question but that we will, and we do.

Sometimes the very thought of layering ourselves in clothing to fend off the cold, and doing the same with Jackie and Jillie give us pause. But it's mostly the thought of forcing their little paws and legs into protective gear like the Muttluks and then watching as they race off in enthusiastic exultation at being out in the snow despite the cold, one or another boots being flung off in the process that really makes us hesitate.

And when that happens I hold the one who has lost a boot while my husband negotiates it back into place. Odds are even that the replaced boot will shoot off again, or alternately remain in place for the remainder of our hike through the snowy ravine.

On winter afternoons the woods under overcast skies tend to take on a dimly crepuscular aura. True, that adds to a sense of mystery; as though one has entered the proverbial the deep, dark woods. Having entered, however, the dusky appearance seems to lift, and one proceeds along trails muted in the tranquility of the snow, surrounded by the trees resembling silent sentinels absent foliage, the trunks dark against the snow on the forest floor.

If it happens to be snowing while you're there in the woods. the overall appearance becomes mist-like as though a faint white fog has appeared, a veil of falling white snowflakes. When it's a sunny afternoon on the other hand, while the afternoon forest still has a dim, dusky appearance, the canopy above is illuminated with a golden brightness, a gift of the setting sun.

The twilight appeal of the forest is quite lovely and utterly peaceful. These are landscape nuances of time and place that fail to impress our two little dogs, but they do us -- enormously.