The accumulated snow on rooftops, including our two garden sheds in the backyard stood pretty high, as did several feet of tamped-down snow on the ground, acquired over the winter months to date. But yesterday our urban landscape took on a decided other look altogether, as bit by bit the snow melted and by late afternoon very little of it was actually left.

Well, if it had been early April we'd have been convinced it was time to retire the trusty old snow blower for another season. But this being a date just approaching mid-January which translates to midway through the winter season, the notion was more than a bit presumptively premature. Just because the temperature had soared to 12C degrees and an icefog had greeted us with its remotely-sheer, more opaque blanket first thing in the morning.

And the freezing rain that had pattered on the windows the night before had, as the thermometer rose, turned to rain, relentlessly pouring all night long, continuing on into the morning and from morning to afternoon. We were feeling a little paranoid; 'what had happened to winter?', were our complaints about -26C plunges at night rising to -17C during the daytime accompanied by roaring wind responsible for plunging nature into a misery of unappreciated funk?

Mind, it was pleasant enough meandering through the forested trails in the past two days in temperatures above the freezing mark, where there was no need to walk briskly to keep warm and no concerns that our little dogs' footpads would freeze. We had seen regular splotches of watery blood on the trail here and there signalling that some poor dog had either cut his footpads trampling on ice or that salt had turned his tender pads into excruciatingly painful and exceedingly tender skin that split and bled in the cold.

But Friday's balmy 12C degrees replete with pouring rain began a swift plunge by late afternoon and the rain reverted to freezing rain then rain pellets and finally, snow overnight as -26C temperature returned, greeting us this morning with  fresh snow covering the ice that had flash-frozen the evening before and an early morning reading of -16C. Holiday over. We'd gone from enjoying a brief respite thanks to warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, back to the frigid  air moving its Arctic mass into our landscape.

And golly gee, tonight the thermometer will plunge to -26C again, with a daytime high of -17C tomorrow, just a tad of one degree 'warmer' than today's high, with wind gusts both days so sharp and icy that though the thermometer may read -17C, it will feel like -38C.

The great Ottawa Rideau Canal treat for devoted skaters that was finally opened and proudly declared fit for use after having been sufficiently groomed to satisfy the standards of the National Capital Commission only several days earlier, has now been shut down temporarily until such time as the crews can create another solid, smooth surface for the 20,000 skaters that make the longest skating rink in the world their daily destination.